Liar's Place
by Racing the Sunrise
Summary: Naruto will do anything for his Father and Brother, even kill... rated for gore/bloodshed
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't, in anyway, own any part of Naruto or any other thing I get my ideas from. This disclaimer will be for the whole story. Unless some one complains, then I tell them to look at the first chapter.

* * *

_Drip, drip, drip..._he was back. The boy stood from his position at the sewer wall and started toward his only home. His path was well worn; he had come here many times. His pace was slow; no one could bother him here. Once he got to the gate he stopped and sat with his back to the bars.

"Are you awake?" came his timid cry.

"Of course. I always wake when you come to visit me. What kind of father do you take me to be Naruto?" came the curt reply.

"Sorry."

"Quit saying you are sorry."

"Okay." The boy, Naruto, turned to look at the only thing to ever show him any compassion. The giant fox may seem like nothing but a demon to everyone else, but to Naruto, he was just what he needed. A father.

"Go to sleep. Those idiotic, biased fools have gone. Do not fear, you are being taken to the hospital." Seeing the distressed look on his son's face, the fox decided to comfort the boy some more. "Even if no one heals you, they would not dare to kick you out; your Hokage would punish them. And they would not try to poison you, they already know it has no effect on you. Sleep." The great fox tried not to chuckle when he heard Naruto grumble.

"He's not my Hokage, he's never done anything for me. You've cared for me more."

"Yes, I have. Now what did I teach you today? Do not use contractions, you must show patience in every aspect, even your speech. Now, go to sleep."

"Good night...Father."

"Sleep well Naruto."

--Six year time skip--

"Uzumaki, Naruto"

"Here sir." The quiet, polite boy said from his position by the window. No one sat beside, or even around him. Iruka often wondered why the boy sat alone. He had never seen the boy do anything to the other students. The first day Naruto had walked in and sat by the window, surrounded by student at almost all sides. He had walked in to see the boy by himself after he had been called out by Mizuki. Iruka had asked the children why they had moved, they all said they had gotten cold by the open window.

"Good, everyone is here. Today is the day you've been training for, Graduation! After today, I may not see you as often so you must promise me you'll keep up your good work!" Iruka was proud. The man had grown especially close to the group, even the cold Naruto. He expected everyone to pass.

--Skip all other tests--

"Okay Naruto, first we want you to summarize the reason our village has grown so strong, in your own words of course."

'Because the village over runs the enemy with useless gennin before sending in your real fighters.' was his first hate-filled thought. But saying that would get him and his father caught. And he would rather kill himself than foil his father's well-laid plans.

"The key to the Leaf Village's success is its ninjas all share a love for their home that is rarely seen in other hidden villages. Our ninja hold loyalty and the protection of the civilians above all else. All people are treated and cared for as if they are family." 'Except for me. You all either hate or ignore me. That should be good enough to pacify them. One day they will be unable to disregard me.'

"Good job Naruto! That was a very well-calculated answer! Now to finish things, perform the three basic jutsu and the academy Taijutsu."

'Foolish village, allowing yourself to become weak by allowing children to become ninja by performing schoolyard tricks.'

'Pathetic.' his father spoke this time.

"Yes sir." he was agreeing with his father more than answering his teacher.

After perfectly creating three clones, performing Kawarimi with a nearby desk, and using Henge to turn into Iruka, he was given his headband and told to return the next day for teams.

--That night--

Naruto woke from his light sleep to the sound of running. He looked out of his window to see Mizuki running towards the forest with a large scroll on his back. Turning to the Hokage's tower at the heart of the village, he saw the alert lights signaling for jonin assistance at the tower.

'Whatever the problem, I have a feeling that I will be blamed.'

'Run to the forests after Mizuki; that scroll interests me.'

'Yes Father.' he said before running after the traitor. Naruto ran without making any sound. He could have caught up with his "teacher", but decided to wait until they entered the forest to confront him. Mizuki ran until he got to the small cabin in the woods. As he rested, he opened and started going over the contents of the scroll.

"You should not have ran Mizuki, it made me even more interested. Maybe if you had walked by my window, I would not have heard you."

The man jumped up and turned to the voice. On top of one of the many branches stood a person. Because of the shadows, all Mizuki could see was a long sleeved grey shirt, a pair of black pants, and bare feet. He knew those feet anywhere, there was only one person in the village that would run around barefooted, the demon brat Naruto.

"What are you doing here Naruto? Shouldn't you be sleeping, preparing for your team tomorrow?" Mizuki was willing to waste time, if he was caught, he could blame Naruto for taking it and say he caught him, he would be a hero! "What do you want?" He was getting angry now, the boy just stood there, watching him and it was getting unnerving. "I said wh-"

"Calculating how long it will take ANBU to find your body." Naruto calmly said, cutting into what Mizuki was saying.

"What the hell do you mean?" Mizuki screamed at the boy. He was about to say something else when a dagger the size of his forearm entered his throat, rendering speech impossible.

"Such language. It is so unbecoming to see one so old speaking like a child." Mizuki's head shot up to see calm blue eyes just inches from his own. The hilt of the blade was held loosely in his hand. For some reason he was drawn to the hilt of the small shard of metal. A very small diamond shaped piece of glass was right between the hilt and the blade. It seemed as if the purple diamond was emptying. Mizuki got confused as his brain caught up with what he was seeing. 'How can that be?'

"Inside the diamond is my personal poison. When I pull any of my blades out of their sheathes the poison enters a groove on the blade. For the poison to take effect, it needs to enter the victim's bloodstream. With my daggers, I must stab them. My sword has grooves running down the middle of the blade, along with grooves down the actual blade. With these grooves, my poison can enter if they are stabbed or if I slash at them. They are very useful and very potent, do you not think Mizuki?" But by then he was only talking to a corpse.

Naruto picked up the scroll, careful not to get the traitor's blood on it. He quickly opened the scroll and memorized it. He could not recall any specific thing from the scroll but his mind copied the scroll and he could pull the memory and read its secrets in his Liar's Place. At his own leisure of course.

--Hokage's Office--

"So you found the scroll on the forest floor, next to Mizuki's body?" The Hokage was happy to have the scroll back, but found it odd that Naruto had been the one to find it. What also confusing to him what the fact that he could find nothing wrong with Naruto's story. The boy sat in front of the man with none of the emotion on his face that gives up most liars.

"Yes Hokage-sama" answered the composed boy. He had nothing to fear, in his Liar's Place, not even Ibiki's interrogation techniques could force the truth from him. With his Liar's Place, he controlled his words perfectly, saying exactly what was needed to throw off suspicion of his true motives. He practiced with Uchiha-san, practiced until the weasel could throw his eyes around all he wanted, he still would not be able to figure out if he was lying.

"That is all Naruto."

"Good night sir." And with a final bow, Naruto left the office. Outside his face was cold, but inside he was grinning like the fox he was.

--

Back at his apartment, Naruto found that he was unable to go back to sleep after his meeting with the Hokage, so he did the next best thing; learn. He meditated and soon found himself in the confines of his mind. He walked down the dark hallways until he came to the one place he loved more than his Liar's Place; the Chamber of Sealing. The room that held his father captive. He walked up and sat a few feet from the golden bars.

"Are you still awake?" He quietly asked; if his father was asleep, he didn't want to wake him.

"How many times an I going to have to tell you that I wake as soon as you come here?" Naruto bowed to the darkness in front of him. "I am not angry, do not bow. Did you come here for any particular reason?"

"Yes. I could not go back to sleep and I wish to continue our lessons from the last time." The image of a giant fox appeared behind the cage and a red tail wrapped around him and pulled him past the bars. The appendage settled him next to the great belly of the beast and Naruto leaned against the furry body; absorbing heat from it. The fox's head swung around and rested on the ground near him, its piercing eyes looked into his own.

"What was the topic we were discussing?" The Kyuubi's words rumbled from the throat that was just a few feet away from him.

"Fear in general."

"How long has it been since the conversation started?"

"A few years."

"Tell me what you remember from our previous conversations."

"Fear is an emotional response to _presumed _threats and danger."

"How is it different than anxiety?"

"Fear is different from anxiety in which anxiety typically occurs without any external threat. In addition, fear is related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas the other results from threats that are seen as unavoidable or uncontrollable."

"Good, what is the basis for all fear?"

"Pain."

"Explain yourself."

"Fear is most often subconsciously connected pain. A fear of heights stems from the thought of falling and suffering a severe injury or death."

"What about a fear of change?"

"They fear they cannot handle the change and may be hurt either emotionally or even physically."

"Yes. Why does the body fear?"

"Fear is a survival mechanism and usually occurs in response to a specific negative influence. This negative stimulus cannot often be seen, and fear is often misplaced. Fear can lead to many different emotions ranging from anger to extreme paranoia. This is where the conversation ended."

"We will move to paranoia tonight and cover anger another time. DO you know who are the most susceptible to this emotion?"

"Corrupt business leaders?"

"No."

"Corrupt leaders in general?"

"No. Paranoia is a term used to describe a psychosis of fear, felt as a heightened perception of being persecuted, whether it be false or otherwise; meaning the person does not have to be corrupt. This degree of fear often causes one to change their normal behavior in radical ways, even becoming extremely compulsive. In extreme cases, paranoia leads to a phobia. What kind of people do you know that change that dramatically in short periods of time?"

"Ninja."

"Yes. Most nin are constantly worried over people seeking revenge or glory by killing them. Paranoia often causes them to develop certain 'quarks' to their personalities. Many nin try to suppress their fear in paranoia and are successive to a point…"

--Next Day--

"Okay class, today you get put on your teams! Look lively now, you should be happy!"

'I am happy in the thought that most of them will not survive the first real mission they get.' Naruto was by the always open window. He liked the feeling of the wind on his skin, it reminded him that at any time he could run. There was nothing in this village to hold him down.

'Will you miss anyone when your brother tells you that he does not need a Leaf spy anymore?' ask his father.

'No. They have all wronged me in some way, by either harming or ignoring me.'

'Good. I wanted to be sure that you will not hesitate to follow orders your bother or I give you. Even if they deal with the destruction of the Leaf.'

'Do not worry yourself, I will do your and brother's bidding. I will always follow you both.'

'Good boy.'

"...Team 7: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto." At the sound of his name the blond looked up at Iruka, then at the "last" Uchiha. 'How long until he cracks and goes crazy?'

'I think a few months of seeing how strong you are will make him snap like the little ninja I feasted on thirteen years ago.' At that thought Naruto busted out with a short bark of laughter; scaring the shit out of the students.

"Now all teams wait here for your teachers." Iruka stated before laving.

--3 Hours Later--

"Where the hell is our teacher?" Sakura screamed for the hundredth time. Sasuke had been saying the same thing in his head for the past two hours.

'Where the hell is he? Some so called jonin, he can't even tell time!' Out loud he said, "Sakura, you should be more patient. Patience is a great ninja's most used tool."

"Use that oversized head of yours for something; you could at least come up with something new to say." They both turned their heads to see the team's other member; Naruto Uzumaki. The insult has been the only thing the boy had said since he stopped laughing in class. In fact, that was the longest sentence either of them had heard him say. Just as Sakura was about to scream out a comeback, the door opened and their jonin teacher walked in. He took one look around.

"My first impression of you, I ha-" he was cut off by Naruto.

"Your personal opinion of us does not matter; only your professional opinion of our skills as shinobi." "Very perceptive. But personal and professional opinions often go hand-in-hand. But I think I could get to like you."

"Probably not." Sakura and Sasuke had been staring at Naruto the whole time he was talking, they had never seen him talk so much, and Kakashi noticed them.

"Stop staring and meet me on the roof." He turned and walked out.

On the roof, he told them to describe themselves. To explain, he went first, "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't like talking about my hobbies or likes or dislikes. My dreams...don't matter to you. Now you, pinky, go." Sakura glared at the nickname, but started talking anyway.

"Well my name is Haruno Sakura, I like ...blushes...someone and all my hobbies and dreams revolve around that someone! I hate...Naru-"

"Finish your sentence and I will make sure to blind you so you can not stalk Sasuke anymore." Naruto said without batting an eye.

"Well that was interesting Sakura, but you shouldn't hate your teammates. Naruto, even though I think Sasuke wouldn't mind a blind Sakura, you shouldn't threaten your teammates. You doom-and-gloom, you go next." Sasuke inwardly seethed, but refused to give the lazy jonin the show of emotion he wanted.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I don't care for a lot of things and don't feel like naming them all off. Instead of a dream, my ambition is to revive the Uchiha clan and kill someone."

"Itachi, right?" Sasuke's head turned to Naruto so fast that the blonde would bet Sasuke had broken something.

"What do you know about him?!" He somehow made his question into a demand.

"Ask your question nicer, and I might consider answering." Sasuke was about to jump forward and attempt to beat the answers out of Naruto, but Kakashi stopped him.

"Enough! Naruto, stop messing with such a serious matter." Suddenly his glare was gone and the commanding tone he had used was replaced with his usual one. "Now, why don't you go, but please don't get anyone angry."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto., as you already know. My likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, and ambitions are not important to this team."

Sakura leaned over to Sasuke and whispered into his ear, "We only learned Kakashi-sensei's name and nothing new about Naruto. What is up with them?" Sasuke didn't answer her, but he was thinking along the same lines as she was.

'What does he know about Itachi?'

"Well, since we are done here, I'll tell you what we will be doing tomorrow. It will be a survival exercise."

"But, Kakashi-sensei, we alr-"

"No, buts, just meet me at training ground 22 at eight. Dismissed!" With that he was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

'Damn them all. I swear I will kill all cats one day!' Team Seven had gotten another useless mission; find the stupid cat...for the fifth time in two days! This time the cat had escaped the lady while she was running to get him out of Naruto's grasp. It had clawed up his arm, over his face, and down his back before running out Naruto had chased the damned animal down for two seconds before pouncing on it and dragging it back before anyone knew he was gone.

'I agree. We could start with the two tailed cat demon. She owes me money!'

'I will remember that the next time we come across her.'

"Wow, that was fast Naruto." came Kakashi's lazy complement.

'You would think that if he complemented someone, he would not sound so lazy.'

'He does that to annoy you. At your test, you should not have held his book for ransom, it made him angry. Insulting his grammar did not help any.' Naruto smirked at the memory. At the beginning, he had hid at the top of a tree and watched as Sakura tried to defeat Kakashi with her horrible academy taijutsu. Scarecrow was beating her while also reading a little orange book. Naruto wondered what the book was and was surprised that Kakashi got angry when Sasuke attacked, leaving him unable to read the book. At the first sign of Kakashi letting his guard down around his direction, Naruto silently ran out behind him and grabbed the book. After defeating Sasuke, Kakashi reached back, only to find empty air where his precious book missing!

"Where the hell is it?! I just put that damn thing down for a minute!" He was wildly twisting his body to look around him.

"Tisk, tisk, teacher, such language. Your grammar is even worse when you're angry. I have your book right here." Naruto was back in the tree, but this time was standing on a lower branch. He was holding the book up for the world to see. "I will give you it back, without harm, if you pass us in this test of yours."

"Fine! Just come down and give it!" Kakashi was getting desperate now; Naruto was an unknown and so, he was unpredictable. Kakashi had no idea what the boy was capable of or what he would do. Kakashi tensed as Naruto handed him the book. "You just gave up your only bargaining chip."

"Oh, really. Because to me, the status quo has not changed." Naruto was smirking, something Kakashi found unnerving. Then he felt a tapping against his chest and looked down to see a dagger lightly drumming on his vest. A thin strip of violet ran down the blade and a liquid seemed to be dripping of the blade. "This is the poison I killed Mizuki with. He died before I was even done telling him all about my blades. Now hold up your bargain." Naruto was whispering now, right into Kakashi's ear. "Oh, and don't think of telling Hokage-sama; he has bigger things to take up his time. Not that he would believe you at all." Kakashi nodded, and then turned to the other two saying, "Good job all of you. You pass!"

"Why are you smirking Naruto? Remember something funny?" Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts by the Hokage's question.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Very amusing." At this Kakashi shivered, suddenly overcome with the urge to check his book.

"Hey, Hokage, can't we do something more interesting than catching cats, I'm getting tired of it!" Sakura was complaining, like usual. Naruto could have sworn that he had scared her enough the last time she decided to start blabbering about nothing that she would remember the next time.

'Of course not, she is a fool.' His father decided to add his two cents in.

"Sakura, you must understand, you all are gennin, and as such, you are not prepared for any higher missions." came the Hokage's reply, the same reply he gave her every time they came to get a new mission.

"Hokage-sama, why don't we let the experience a C rank mission? If they see something higher, they may not want it so badly. I believe that they are ready, and I'll be with them." Kakashi himself was bored with all of the D rank missions; he also knew that at least Naruto was actually ready for higher missions. He had listened to his student and had not told the Hokage about Naruto's confession for two reasons. One being that Naruto was right about the Hokage being busy and that he would not have believed him. The other was that Kakashi would have to admit, in front of his fellow jonin, that he had lost to a member of his own gennin squad.

"Alright Kakashi, you'll get your mission. Iruka, escort Tazuna in here."

"Yes sir."

"Are these pipsqueaks my guards? They're just a bunch of kids!" Naruto turned to see the old drunk. He was leaning against the wall, with a half-empty bottle in his hands.

Naruto took one whiff of the foul smell coming of the man before he had to protect his nose. The stench was awful. He held up his arm and covered his nose with his sleeve. In the hopes of blocking at least some of it out.

"What's wrong with you kid?"

"You smell worse than the alley behind my apartment. It is making me sick." The boy's response was the last thing Tazuna expected. He acted like any normal person would, by getting mad. Tazuna was glaring at the boy when he noticed that everyone else in the room was staring at the boy with wonder in their eyes.

"What are you all staring at?" Tazuna knew it was rude of him but it was getting annoying. Even the ANBU guards behind the Hokage looked as if they were staring at the boy. The ANBU with a bird mask answered him.

"Naruto always has perfect manners when he his expected to. I think that is the first insult I've ever heard him say in front of the Hokage! In fact, that's the first emotion I've seen in his eyes since he was six years old!" Tazuna stared at the ANBU this time before turning toward the boy still covering his nose.

"The...first...time...in...yea-" His rambling was cut short by the boy's next sentence.

"ANBU are supposed to be quiet and focus on protecting the Hokage. Not yelling about my actions." Apparently that one sentence put everyone back in order, and it was obvious that the boy was back to normal. Kakashi broke the silence.

"Team, meet me at the gates in one hour, be prepared for a month trip and bring all of your weapons. Dismissed."

--One Hour Later--

"Where is Naruto? Usually he's early for missions and now he's late; did Mr. Tazuna smell that bad to Naruto?" Everyone else was waiting for the boy by the gate. They had expected Kakashi to be late but were surprised when he showed up early and Naruto was late. Sakura even went as far as walking up to the shocked man and taking a whiff of his clothing. "Mr. Tazuna doesn't even smell that bad! What was Naruto talking about?"

"Naruto had a bad experience with drunks once. They surrounded him and mugged him, not that any six year old would have a lot of money with them. The day before, Naruto had been a happy soul and very loud. The next day he was the way you see him now, cold and polite. I think that he has become very sensitive to the smell of alcohol, as a defense mechanism, that is why he needed to cover his nose. He probably only wanted to run out but you were blocking the only exit Tazuna."

Tazuna was shocked, a six year old was beaten and mugged, and he had insulted him, while he was probably scaring the boy with his smell.

"Tell me Kakashi, are you going to tell my life story to idiots every time I leave you with them? If so, I ask you to rethink this practice, it could get you killed." The voice came from behind them, by the gates. Naruto stood there, glaring at Kakashi.

"Of course not Naruto. I was only answering Sakura's question."

"If you answered every one of Sakura's stupid questions, you would be constantly talking."

"That's not very nice. Anyway, what took you so long? You're usually that early one."

"I had to change clothes and pick up some gear." At that, everyone noticed what he was wearing. Instead of the long sleeved grey shirt and plain black pants, Naruto was wearing a dark grey, almost black, shirt with sleeves that went down to his knuckles. His pants had almost no change with them except for the senbon holster on them. His shirt and holster was first thing that Kakashi noticed, but Sakura and Sasuke both only noticed on thing.

"You're wearing shoes!"

"That is obvious Sakura." Naruto had donned a pair of black shinobi sandals. "For long trips, I would prefer to keep my feet covered. Why does it matter?"

"She's just shocked because she's never seen you wear anything on your feet. Although if it's your feet she notices and not the holster, she really needs to get her priorities strait." Sakura looked sheepish at this and dropped her head. "I've never seen you wear weapons before Naruto."

"I do not usually find them necessary. And Kakashi you have seen that I wear weapons, just not where everyone can see them." Naruto was walking toward them now, with a small smirk on his face, but still no emotion in his eyes.

"Yes I have. Do you have any more hidden blades? When you threatened me, you said he died before you were done telling him all about your blades. How many do you have?"

"Are you scared of me Kakashi?"

"No, just interested." Naruto was in Kakashi's comfort zone now. One more step and the boy would close enough to do so damage if he wanted to. Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna, forgotten by the other two, watched the exchange with confusion in their eyes.

'When did Naruto threaten Kakashi and why would it scare him?' Sakura wondered.

'When has Naruto killed someone?' was on Sasuke's mind.

'I better not piss that boy off...' was Tazuna's thought.

"I have two daggers, like the one you saw, with me now. One on each arm. I also have a sword strapped to my back, I am surprised you did not notice it. All of them are very dangerous in my hands, even without their poison tears." Naruto stepped back, "Can we leave now?"

"One last question, then we'll leave. Where is your headband Naruto?"

"Easy, connected to the hood that is attached to my shirt. Inside the village yellow hair stands out. Can you imagine how much it will stand out outside? When it is needed, I will cover my hair with my hood, and my headband will be in full view to the world. Will that appease you Teacher?"

The boy said the last word with such sarcasm that it was funny to Kakashi.

"Yes, but I don't think I'll be teaching you anything."

"I agree."

"Let's go Team." With those parting words, they turned and left out the opening gate.

--

That night they camped in a swath of trees near the road. As Sakura took watch, Naruto felt a tugging on his subconscious. He fell asleep and found himself in front of the Kyuubi's cage. Standing near the bars was his father in his fox form.

"I have a new technique for you." Naruto nodded and took a seat by the bars. "This one is in the same family as your sword's poison; the Demonic Tears. It is used to poison an enemy's water supply." Naruto sat through the night in the same position while his father showed and explained a few other poison moves to him.

--On the Road the Next Day--

'Naruto! Behind you!' His father's panicked warning woke Naruto from his musings. He ducked while pulling one of his daggers out of its sheath attached to his forearm. As the would-be assailant passed over his head, Naruto stabbed him, giving a deep wound on his upper chest area. The attacker quickly landed and spun around to face Naruto. 'You are surrounded. One behind, one in front.'

'Thank you. I do not know what had me so occupied I could not even sense them.'

'No problem. You were probably ignoring the human female's annoying voice a little two well, she called to you before I did.'

'That must have been it.' Naruto could hear his team now.

"Naruto! Are you okay? I thought they would come for me first. That's why I allowed them to attack.'" Kakashi felt the need to explain himself. He was tormenting himself on the inside. 'Naruto could've died! Foolish, foolish, foolish. Never endanger your team again!'

"Do not apologize Kakashi. You have seen very little of what I am capable of. What you have seen though should tell you I can handle these idiots. One is already dead." Naruto pointed to the stab wound on one's chest. Kakashi could see that the cut was green around the edges and his face was turning grey.

"That poison is as potent as you say. What is it made of?" Any information he collected on the poison would aid the ANBU in reproducing it. "And how did you get it in the diamond on the hilt?"

"Maybe I will show you when I am done. But do not be foolish, none can produce this poison except me." Naruto then jumped backwards and spun midair so was in front of the one behind him. The ninja leaped back in an effort to doge Naruto's slash at his neck. He was almost dragged down to the ground when his brother pulled on the chain connecting them. This action ended up saving his life, as the dagger swung inches above his head.

"What the hell are you doing?" He yelled at his partner. He looked him only to be knocked into a tree. Before he gained his bearings, he felt himself tied to the said tree.

"Do not blame your partner, it is hard for a corpse to remain standing. Kakashi, you interrogate this one, I will dispose of the other body." Kakashi nodded to his student before walking up to the tree.

After the interrogation, Kakashi turned to see his team sitting by a fire that was burning on odd-shaped pieces of wood. 'That's not wood, Naruto burned the body.' "Why did you burn the body? We could have learned something from it."

"Like how I make my poison, or what it contained?"

'Damn he figured it out.'

"I told you I would show you, and I will." Naruto stood. "Now watch why you would not be able to copy my poison. I will only show you once."

Naruto rolled his sleeve up to show an empty scabbard. He then unhooked it from the brace that kept it attached to his arm. "Hold this for me. Do not do anything to it." He said while handing it to Kakashi. Naruto then took his blade, from which he had cleaned the enemy blood, and cut his own wrist. Everyone was rooted in place as they watched the blood from his wrist flow down the groove and fill the diamond. As soon as it was full, Naruto removed his wrist and sheathed the blade. He held the whole thing up while making hand signs unknown to the team with one hand.

"Demonic Tears: Blood Conversion." was all he said. His lifeblood glowed red, then turned purple. As Naruto was turning back to the fire, he attached the blade back and rolled his sleeve back down.

'What the hell did he just do?' was the collected thought of the group.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'll repeat my self one more time. What…the hell…was that?"

"And I will continue to give you my answer. The…answer…to your questions….about my poison. See, I can talk really slow too." Kakashi was surprised by his answer to the question they had been asking him for the last twenty minutes. The Naruto he had seen so far had never shown such blatant disregard toward his teacher, except when insulting Kakashi's manners. Now, the boy was being sarcastic and even looking a little angry. Apparently even the calmest of people could lose their cool when faced with Team Seven's idiocy.

'Control yourself my son. It is not worth it to kill the little humans. It will only cause trouble for us and your bother.'

'Yes Father. Sorry for losing even a little of my control.'

'You are forgiven.'

'Thank you.' Out loud he said, "Kakashi-sensei, you were intrigued by my poison, so I showed you how I produce it. I warned you beforehand that you would be unable to reproduce it."

"Yes, but I didn't think you would need to almost kill yourself to do so."

"I do nothing that can cause permanent damage to my body. Look, my wrist is already healed." He held his wrist high enough for the team to see the unmarked skin. The slash didn't even leave a scar.

"How is that possible?" was the only thing Sasuke had said in the last hour.

Naruto answered him with a short, "None of your concern," before setting down his pallet and laying down. "Do not expect me to take first shift. I will watch after you Kakashi."

"Fine by me."

--

"Now we will discuss the emotion that nearly consumed you today; anger." Naruto was back in his spot leaning on his father's belly for warmth.

"I cannot see how one would connect anger with fear."

"Today, whether you realize it or not, you feared someone find out about our plans. This is why your temper showed and you became irritated."

"Are all emotions connected to fear?"

"Most. Fear is one of the basic emotions from which every other one comes from."

"What are the other basic emotions?"

"Peoples' opinions differ. I believe only two exist; Pain and Pleasure."

"What about Fear?"

"Fear stems from pain, joy stems from pleasure, these two combine and split into all of the other emotions."

"I see. So if you could control someone's pain or pleasure, fear and joy, you can control them."

"Precisely. That is the best way to break prisoner as well; show them pleasure then pain."

"Ruthless."

"I know…"

--Two days later--

"Well, well, well, look at this. Hatake, Kakashi, the great Copy-Cat Ninja, reduced to babysitting some brats. It's pathetic, seeing how far you've fallen." The, so-called, great Momochi Zabuza stood from atop his sword, sneering at them.

"I hope your not calling me a brat, Momochi. You owe me, and I will ask you to pay up." Zabuza looked down to see, to his udder disbelief, Naruto Uzumaki.

"What are you doing here Naruto? All grown up now?" On the outside Zabuza was sneering down at the team, but on the inside he was worried. He knew the boy could kill him, one look into his hollow eyes and any good ninja would come to the same conclusion. But he also knew he couldn't fight with the boy, a servant never fights the master.

"Yes." Kakashi watched in disbelief as the boy calmly answered the Demon's questions. "The team I was placed on was given a mission to protect Tazuna. Will you interfere?" This was the last straw for Sasuke.

"How the hell do you know him?" He then flinched at the cold gaze of his teammate as it fell on him. 'His eyes are dead.'

"On my seventh birthday, I was walking in the woods outside the Village. I came upon a man lying on the ground. I helped the man sit up and leaned his torso on the roots of a nearby tree. After giving him some water, he thanked me and asked my name. We talked for awhile before he got up to exit the Fire Nation. The man's name was Zabuza. As he was leaving, he turned and told me that he was in my debt. Now Zabuza, I will give you this final chance to leave without injuries, I suggest you take it."

'He saved Zabuza?' Of all the possible ways for Naruto to run into Zabuza, this explanation didn't even cross Kakashi's mind.

"I'm sorry you will have to waste more time on me Naruto. I guess we will have to fight. I never would've imagined meeting you like this again. And I even forgot to get you a birthday present. Sorry, maybe next year." As he finished, he made a hand sign. "Kirigakure no Jutsu"

As the mist thickened, Naruto said, "There will be no next year." He then yelled back at the members of his team, "He will send a bunshin after one of us, then another in the middle to separate us. He will go after either you or me Kakashi. The others are all to weak for him; be on alert." Everyone nodded.

"Sasuke, Sakura, stay back with Tazuna. Naruto and I will take care of Zabuza. Don't worry, we won't allow you to die." The heroic mood Kakashi's words set came crashing down with Naruto's next statement.

"I really will not mourn their passing, but it would cause me trouble if I did not protect them. Correct?" He said, turning to Kakashi.

"Yes it would." With that they disappeared into the mist.

Zabuza waited in the trees as his clone conversed with his master. 'Damn I really did forget to get him a present. I will have to ask Haku to get one while the clone fights.'

"Do not get me a present Zabuza. The only thing I would want is new jutsu, something you do not have. Father and Brother will provide me with presents." Zabuza turned to see Naruto standing behind him.

"Love your new look. How are things in Konoha?" Zabuza wanted sit down, but knew it was rude to sit before the master. Naruto sat down on the tree, he wanted to talk to Zabuza while their clones fought.

"Make yourself comfortable. After I had passed the exam, I was put on a team with those fools. I really have nothing else to say about it." he said while shrugging his shoulders. He looked up at Zabuza, "How have you been?"

"Didn't do anything worth noting. Kept away from the Leaf like you ordered." He stopped when he saw Naruto wave him off. "What?"

"Why are you here? I told you to keep your nose clean."

"You sound so old when you say that. Gato paid us to kill some bridge builder. It sounded so easy, I couldn't pass it up. Sorry if I made you mad." Zabuza watched Naruto slowly roll his shoulders and make himself more comfortable. 'That's a good sign. Now I need him to say those magic words…' He sat straighter when the cold gaze of his master fell on him.

"No, I am not angry." Zabuza did a little jig in his head. "But you cannot think that he will paid you. That would be foolish. Gato does not even pay his bodyguards." Suddenly, Zabuza felt a pain in the back of his head.

'That foolish man, I am surprised they have not killed him yet. Quit flinching. You have felt my presence before Zabuza.' The said man flinched one more time before settling down. He looked over at his master.

"I forgot I gave your Father permission to enter my head. My apologies." He then formally bowed to them both, Naruto and his father.

'I would have entered anyway. Getting permission was only a formality.'

"One that has honored me beyond anything before." He bowed again. He had his head low when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, his eyes met with Naruto's icy ones. He was shaking his head.

"Zabuza, you were one of the first to see me, not Father. Even though you say I am your master, you will not bow to me. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now leave, all of the clones have been dispersed. Contact me should you get any more orders from Gato. I will tell you how to respond." With a nod, the mist shinobi was gone. Dispelling his own clone, Naruto returned to the road as the mist faded. With a sigh, Naruto turned to see how Kakashi had fared. Seeing him passed out, Naruto walked over to him and slung him over his shoulders.

"Sorry, used my eye too much. What happened in your fight?"

"Clones were used against me. They were no problem."

"Good. Well, I think I'll sleep now." Was all he said before nodding off.

'To think, he was so close to speaking, without contractions, twice,'

'Short sentences do not count.'

'Right.'

--few days later--

"What do you mean climb trees? How could that possibly help us?" Sakura was complaining, again.

'I cannot wait for the day that we could just kill her.'

'Me either.' Naruto raised his hand, "Kakashi, I have completed this exercise. May I train on my own?" Everyone was watching him at this point.

"You've done this before?"

"I believe I just said the Haruno." The ice is his voice stopped any and all arguments the others may have come up with.

"You can go Naruto." With a nod, the boy turned and walked east into the forest.

"Any and all persons trying to spy on me will be dealt with in a swift and painful manner." He said without turning back, as if it was an afterthought. Taking to the trees, Naruto was quickly out of sight and out of mind.

--in the forest somewhere--

"You can come out now, Kisame-san. We are far enough away now."

"Yea. Yea. Shut it kid. They might hear ya." The gruff reply came from Naruto's left. Turning, he was able to see a large man walking towards him. He smiled.

"How are things with Uchiha-san? How is Brother?"

"Fine. Your brother is as annoying as always and he told me to give you this," after throwing a scroll at the container, he continued, "and say 'Happy Birthday' to you." Naruto smirked at the sharks remarks. He knew full well that Kisame only say the mask, not the face underneath. Only Leader-san knows what lies und that mask. Suddenly, Kisame turned to Naruto. "I thought you were born in October anyway, it's the second week in May."

"I do not celebrate my birthday on October 10, but the 9th of May."

"Why?"

"The 9th was when my Father saved me from the sham of a life I was living." Kisame heard the tone of his voice and tried to find a better subject to talk about.

"Hey, you never explained that Lie Place, or whatever you called it. I won that bet, so pay up!"

'I thought he had forgotten.'

'To bad he does not look like a elephant. That would start a whole new line of jokes.'

'So true.'

"Well, Kisame-san, if you have the time I will explain it to you." With a nod of his head, Kisame sat down. "Make yourself comfortable. It may or may not take awhile." Tucking the scroll up his sleeve, Naruto sat as well. "How do you imagine your mind?"

"What are ya talking about?"

"How does your mindscape look to you?"

"Are you going somewhere with this?" A nod of his head, and his own curiosity, made him answer. "I don't know. Never thought about it."

"Well, my mind has many different passageways. Most of them lead to Father's home. The other's lead to my memory. Most people's memory are seen as a bookshelf. When they need the information, they subconsciously open the book and read it. This also happens when you lie. Although you try to hide the book from other's sights, they can still tell you are lying."

"And your minds different?" Another nod.

"Yes. That area of my mind is locked in a room called my Liar's Place. At all times, I keep my subconscious in this room. When I am in there, none can enter, only Father. If I need to lie, the answer to get me out of trouble comes out of the books, and I speak it. None can force the truth out of me if I do not wish them to. Not even the Yamanakas."

"What about Itachi?"

"What about me?" came a voice to Naruto's left. There stood Itachi Uchiha, in all his glory. (sorry I love him!) "Well, were you talking about me?"

"I was explaining to Kisame-san how no one can force me to say anything I do not wish to say." He turns back towards Kisame, "No Itachi-san cannot force his way into my mind. He is one of the people who helped me create the Liar's Place."

Kisame looked up from Naruto's eyes to Itachi's, then back to Naruto's. This continued for another five minutes. When it was getting close to the nine minute mark, Naruto turned to Itachi.

"You might want to stop him. I would hate to have to listen to him complain of neck pain the whole ways back to base…if Brother summoned me of course."

"He did not. I wish to tell you happy birthday as well." With that, Itachi hit Kisame over the head and started dragging him back into the forest.

"Goodbye brat!"

'I hate it when he calls me that.'

'Open the scroll. Let us see what your brother has planned for you.'

'Yes Father' Pulling out the scroll, Naruto checked his surroundings one more time. 'I spent too long explaining Liar's Place to Kisame-san, I do not have time to practice.'

'You at least have the time to read it through.'

Opening the scroll, Naruto read the top margin.

"_Naruto, my brother, these jutsu are very powerful. They are a gift, one I hope you use well. Sign the summoning first. After memorizing the contents, burn the paper."_

'Summoning'

'It looks as if all of these are genjutsus. These have some interesting descriptions.'

"Demonic Mask: Accursed- Victim is forced to live in a world of their own fear. Suicide often follows. That sounds interesting."

'Look at the summoning.'

"_Brother, even though I instructed you to sign this first, you will be unable to summon anything until you perfect the first three Masks. You must be able to use them without trouble. They have minds of their own. You must break their spirits. They must follow your command without complaint. After doing this, the summon will give you your next jutsu. I am sure that you will make me proud._"

The last words were stamped into Naruto's head. He would do anything to make his brother proud. "I will work on them tomorrow."

'Finish reading it though.'

"Demonic Mask: Brutality- Victim sees allies as enemies. Victim then attack the 'enemy'. Demonic Mask: Animosity- Used during interrogation. Victim's emotions are amplified."

'How could that be used?'

'Think about it. Fear could be amplified to the point of madness. Then they would do anything in order to escape. Add that to Accursed, and there spirit will break. They would become putty in your hands. Truly ingenious.' The fox seemed to be drooling over the possibilities.

'These could come in handy.'

'Let us go back to that drunks house. It is getting late.'

'Yes Father.'

--at dinner, a few nights later--

Naruto had been practicing the Demonic Mask jutsus for some time now. During the last two days, while the rest of the team walked up trees, Naruto had been several miles south of them, practicing his masks. He was first surprised to figure out that each jutsu was a mini summon. The chakra needed to perform the technique wasn't a lot, but the masks themselves had a mind of their own. He had been practicing the Accursed mask when he found this out first hand.

The mask had attached to his face and forced him to relive the first six years of his life. He had soon found the mask inside his mind and destroyed it. The next time he used the mask, it was fully submissive to his will. The next mask he decided to work on was Animosity. That was the only reason he was eating with the rest of the team. Naruto figured a live subject was in order. So he chose Sakura to get an idea what it would do to a person as explosive as her.

After casting the jutsu, Naruto sat back and waited for something or someone to do something to his lab rat to make her show some emotion.

"Why do you always train? Why? What do you think you can change?" The small boy who sat across from Sakura yelled at her. She ignored him, instead she continued to fawn over the Uchiha.

'Did I not perform it correctly?'

'No. Everything was correct. Just be patient.'

"Don't you ignore me pink-haired bitch!" He slammed his hands down on the table.

"WHAT?!" Sakura stood and slammed her own hands on the table.

'Poor table. It looks as if it's going to break'

'Look closely at her face, you can see the impression of the mask.'

It was true. Naruto, and no one else, could see faint traces of the mask. It was a brutish-looking mask. It was overall a red color, but the paint was chipped, giving a old look. The eyes were huge, they took up the most space. They were wide open, with slitted pupils and yellow surroundings. The mouth was set into a grimace, with two huge tusks protruding from it. Overall, it looked like a horrific cross between a boar and a human.

'If she could see herself, she would scream.'

'It shows anger, I wonder if the image changes with the emotion."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY TO ME, YOU LITTLE ASSHOLE? I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE CRAP FROM A BOY WHO CRIES BECAUSE THEY'RE WEAK!"

'She is one to talk.' Apparently Kakashi felt the same way.

"Sakura! Control yourself!"

"WHY THE HELL SHOULD I LISTEN TO A TEACHER WHO CAN'T EVEN TELL TIME? WHY SHOULD I SIT HERE AND LISTEN TO A BRAT SAY CRAP ABOUT ME? WHY TH HE-" The rest of her rant was cut off as Naruto hit on the back of the head, hard. She instantly fell onto the table. He then turned his frosted eyes to Kakashi.

"Such language was not called for. Do you agree?"

"Yes…sigh... Naruto can you carry her upstairs?" He turned hopeful eyes to the boy, knowing what he would say.

"Yes." but he made no move to do so.

"Will you carry her upstairs?"

"No."

'Of course. He is so predictable. At least when it comes to the team.' Of course, Kakashi wasn't going to say that out loud. He hated the coldness of his student's eyes. They seemed to get even colder when he glared at someone, and Kakashi didn't want to see how cold they could get.

'Well, that was…interesting. I wish she was not so loud. I thought my ears were going to bleed.'

'The bleeding would have stopped soon enough. But, yes, it was interesting. To say the least.'

'When should we work on the last one?'

'Are you tired?' After feeling more than seeing his son's shake of the head, he continued, "Then sneak out and we will start now.'

'Where will we find a lab rat?'

'We passed a town before coming here, we will use the people in the bar there.'

'Hai.'

--

Ren was having a good day, as in past tense. He had got paid today, so he went where he always went when he got paid…the bar. Or brothel, depending on his mood for the day. He had met up with a good drinking buddy, and they came up with the idea to play some card against the others that were easy with their money. So far, so good. He and his partner were even winning. A good day indeed.

"Wow! I've made quite a lot of cash! I think I might just visit a few of the back rooms." At this, Ren looked up. He saw his drinking buddy round up the cash and get up from the table. Getting up as well, Ren quickly caught up to the man.

"Hey, share some of that! You owe me."

"I don't owe you crap. This is mine." His words struck him hard. All of a sudden, he was angry.

'Who the hell is this guy? Walking off with my money?!' Just as suddenly, Ren found the ability to stab the man, and he did.

Stumbling around, the man turned to face Ren. But to Ren, the man was only a face, nothing more. He had no other options, he would finish what he started. Faster than most could register, Ren started stabbing him repeatedly, with an almost happy look on his face. Then, someone grabbed him from the back. Turning, Ren easily stabbed this one in the heart, making the man stumble back. He quickly dealt with everyone in the building, even the whores. All the people he saw were out to get him. Soon, calming darkness over came the red, and Ren saw no more.

A small smile graced his lips, as he removed the senbon from the drunk's neck. Everything had worked.

'Very interesting effects.'

"Very interesting indeed…"


	4. Chapter 4

Longest chapter ever….I think my fingers are going to fall off…..

--

It had seemed like a good idea at first, just try to summon whatever the scroll could summon. Easy, right?

'How did I get into this?' Naruto questioned as he dodged yet another fireball.

'Hurry, your slowing down!'

--Flashback--

Naruto was running through the forest after the test drive at the bar. Suddenly, he felt his feet lose contact with the bark of the branch has was about to jump from. His whole lower body was jerked to the left. Instead of fighting against the motion, that would waste energy, Naruto allowed himself to be grabbed. This action seemed to confuse the man. Twisting in the grip, he pulled himself closer to the attacker. Using his momentum, Naruto aimed a punch at the man's chest.

'With this much force, I could crack some ribs.'

Instead of the sweet sound of breaking bone, pain swept up Naruto's arm. The man had deflected the punch by hitting Naruto's elbow with his own punch. They landed on branches a few feet from each other. The pain came in waves, causing him to sway. This constant motion soon caused more stress to the branch than it could handle, and it broke. He felt a brief sensation of vertigo before the pain was back in full force.

"Naruto!" As soon as the cry rang out, a warm body wrapped around Naruto's cold one. Looking up, all he could see was orange, and he only knew one person who would wear that color.

"Brother…"

"Stop talking. Sorry for breaking your arm, reflex." He got a grunt of pain in response. Naruto was saved from most of the impact with the ground by his brother's body. Though the jostle started a whole new level of pain in the broken arm. "So little brother, I heard from the masks that you had made a deal with them. They now answer your call. Impressive, seeing as you only defeated one."

'Why is my arm still hurting?'

'He hit your elbow, which is strongest when bent. When extended, it becomes several time weaker and prone to breakage. It also takes longer to heal. He broke your whole arm with that punch, it will take time.'

'Oh.'

"Hello, are you still there? I asked you what the deal was." Seeing that his father was still working on his arm, Naruto stayed on the ground, while answering the question.

"I promised them blood, not mine, other's. They are very bloodthirsty."

'Only rest will heal your arm any more. It is still fractured though, do not stress it any more than necessary.'

'Thank you.'

Sitting up, Naruto surveyed their surroundings. They were in a large dark clearing. Looking up, Naruto could see why there was not any moonlight, the tree branches were so intertwined that the sky couldn't be seen. Most of the nearby forest floor was covered by thorn bushes three feet tall. They would keep anyone from entering the clearing by walking. 'He must of carried me here. I do not recall passing this place.'

"The deal makes sense. They seem to like spilling blood, not nearly as much as you though."

"I do not like spilling blood."

"No, you hate to get your clothes dirty." Naruto stood slowly and walked over to a tree before leaning up against the bark. The pain returned, but was at a far more manageable level.

"Did little Naru-chan hurt his arm that bad?" The masked man had to quickly abandon his spot in the grass to dodge a senbon that was headed towards his only visible eye.

"Sorry, reflex."

"Doubt it. You only ever attack me if you are really angry, or in pain."

"That is how I met you."

"No more remembering, we do not have the time. You are here for a reason, are you not Madara?"

"Yes. I wanted to congratulate you for how far you have come Naruto. You are no longer the weak boy you were when I first came upon you. You have made me proud. I also expect more from you now, so do not let it go to your head."

"Thank you Brother."

"I want you to try to summon."

"I will try it."

"Good. Do not work yourself to hard." Then he seemed to change, his ridged posture evened out and he became more relaxed. Suddenly, he jumped forward and grabbed Naruto before he could jump back. "Tobi would hate it if Naru-kun hurt himself!" Squeezing him once more, he let go and bounded off.

'I can not choose which is more annoying, Madara or Tobi.'

'I vote for Tobi, that color is hideous.'

'Orange?'

'Yes.'

'Okay, let us start.'

After fifteen minutes of meditation, Naruto felt he had drawn enough of his father's chakra to perform the summoning. Slamming his palm down, he yelled, "Yokai (hard word for summoning); Art of Demonic Summoning!" A large plume of smoke pushed Naruto back to the edge of the thorns and enshrouded the clearing. Hidden in the smog, a gruff voice rang out.

"Who called me, the great Balthazar?" Soon after the question was asked, a large breeze swept through the clearing and blew away the sluggish smoke away. In the center stood a three headed dragon, which was anything but normal. Covering one each of the heads were the demonic masks, far right was the Brutality, the left was Accursed, and in the middle was the mask of Animosity. The center mask was watching Naruto while the other two looked for anymore life forms.

"Was it you, little fox child?"

"Yes. I was told to try summoning you after the first three masks agree to do my bidding."

"Were you now? Told by whom?" The heads continued to twist and turn, looking around.

"My father."

"And who would that be? Must be a fox, I could tell by your sent. You also feel powerful, so he must be at least a five tail."

'FIVE TAIL?!' The offhand comment seemed to anger Kyuubi to no end. Slamming against the cage, he yelled, 'Use my power! Create a clone with my essence! I will teach that overgrown lizard his place!' Using his father/prisoner's power, Naruto made the kage bunshin hand sign, with a slight alteration. Instead of two fingers in front of another pair, the four fingers were interlocked. "Kyu Kage Bunshin."

"Answer my question fox brat!"

"Does this not answer it?" Looking behind the boy, the dragon watched as a figure rose from out of the ground.

'How did I miss him? My eyes must be getting old.' he grumbled to himself. The newcomer held himself as if he were royal; shoulders back, chest out, head up, and was looking down his nose at everything. His flame colored hair went to his mid back and seemed to have a life of its own. No wind was blowing, but yet it was moving around like there was. His tan face was adorned with twin stripes, the color of blood, that went from the corner of his eye and down his face before being hidden by his plain white shirt.

"So you're the kids father, not too impressive."

"Oh really, my nine tails do not impress you?" That's when the dragon was introduced to hell, his skin burned and seemed to be peeling off. His muscles failed him and he fell to the grown, but still he burned. It was agony. Looking behind him, Balthazar could see tails of…something wrapped around his body. "My chakra is very corrosive, does it burn?"

"Yes!" He hated the fact that his voice was sounding so pathetic.

"So, what is your purpose?" Another tail wrapped around his head and forced him to look at the fox lord. "Every summon has a purpose, most are fighters. What purpose do you serve?"

"I am too old to fight, too slow. But I can train! We all do.'' The dragon's words sounded like he was pleading, which he was.

"Who is all?"

"Each mask has a physical summon. Each can only be summoned if the mask has been used."

"What could you teach?"

"I deal mostly in poisons." Of to the side, Naruto debated interrupting at this point. The only thing holding him back was his father's reaction. He was always taught that it was rude to butt in.

"The boy can use poison already."

"I can work his reflexes then. And later, I'll improve his poisons." The fox lord weighed the pros and cons of the training. He already knew his answer, he just liked bring pain to the lizard.

"Very well, I will allow you to train my son. No serious harm should come to him. Any grave wounds he has will be taken out of your skin."

"Yes! Just please let me go!"

"I will take my leave." And with a plume of smoke, Kyuubi was gone.

The dragon gave a huge sigh, before turning towards the only other occupant of the clearing. "Your father is scary kid."

"Do not call me kid, or kit for that matter."

"Well, a kit is a baby fox…" He was interrupted by Naruto.

"Only Father can call me kit."

"Fine, so what's your name?"

"Naruto."

"No surname?" Seeing Naruto's negative answer, he inclined his own head. "I don't like my own surname. Call me Balthazar."

"So now what?" Chucking deep in his throat, all three heads turned and locked eyes on Naruto.

"Well, how good are your reflexes?"

--End Flashback (god, that took forever)--

Naruto had to quickly dodge another fireball. He was so wrapped up remembering, he only got away at the last second. Looking at his singed shirt, he noticed little burn holes all over it.

'You were so caught up in your memories I had to take control. You need to work on your speed. Your stealth is sufficient, trade those training hours for speed and strength.'

'As so as I get back.' Noticing the lack of flying fire to dodge, Naruto turned to see Balthazar sitting down on his haunches.

"Man Naruto…pant…you have some…pant…serious endurance." He caught his breath before continuing. "We've been at this for five hours now. Next time, we'll start on poisons." Naruto didn't say anything as the dragon left, he was too busy leaning against a tree, fighting back exhaustion. It was the one battle he couldn't lose, but wanted to lose.

The behemoth left at just the right time, five minutes later, Kakashi entered the clearing via tree branches. He had been looking for his other student since he was made aware of the killings in the bar. It wasn't Naruto's usual way of killing, and a more in-depth check of the bodies ruled Naruto out completely. They were hacked, Naruto's kills were either two or at most three slash/stab wounds. In Kakashi's mind, even if the smell of alcohol had driven Naruto mad enough to kill them all, he wouldn't be so careless as to let a few even get close to the door. It was obvious that one man was dragged back inside before killed. He just wanted to be sure Naruto wasn't anywhere near the bar during the killings. He had no idea how that much death would affect the twisted boy.

The sight that greeted him made him stare for a few minutes before he started chuckling. The only person Kakashi truly feared was sleeping. But not just sleeping, the boy was wrapped by roots of a nearby tree. To Kakashi, the scene was too cute for Naruto's normal behavior. The fact that Naruto was curled in a ball and hugging his knees soon turned his chuckles into laughter. Which Kakashi quickly smothered, he didn't want to wake the unstable boy. The jonin leaned over the boy and pulled out a kunai to cut the roots. They covered him from head to toe, even tangled in his hair.

'He must have been extremely tired to have fallen into the roots. I wonder how mad he would get if I cut his hair.' During their journey to wave, Sakura had asked Naruto why he let his hair go to be so long. She said that most males didn't have hair that went to their shoulder blades. Naruto had replied that he was not like most people, let alone most males. Coming back to reality, Kakashi decided it wasn't worth the hassle to explain why he had to cut Naruto's hair, and tried to cut the roots.

Tried, because as soon as the knife got close to the boy, the roots grabbed his wrist. He was so surprised that he didn't pull at the roots until they had rapped around his throat. When they started to constrict, Kakashi dropped the knife to pull them away from his neck. As soon as the kunai hit the ground, the roots pulled away and vanished into the ground. The entire root system of the tree moved into the earth and the boy was left completely uncovered.

'What the hell was that?! I won't know until he wakes up I guess.' The jonin slowly picked up the boy and jumped away towards Tazuna's house.

Up in the trees, Haku waited until the silver-haired ninja was far enough away to not notice him before he headed for Zabuza's hideout. Haku had been told to relay the time and date of Gato's attack on the bridge to their master.

'Seems like I can't do that anymore.' Thinking back to what he saw, he wondered when the master had awakened a kekkei genkai. 'I wonder if such power is rare in his village. It is called 'Hidden in the Leaves' after all.' Reaching the base, he quickly entered Zabuza's room. After shutting the door, Haku kneeled and waited for Zabuza to notice him.

"Did you tell Naruto-sama?"

"I was unable to do so, when I came upon him, Naruto-sama was asleep. Before I could wake him, his teacher came and collected him. Naruto-sama looked exhausted, he didn't even stir when he was picked up." He kept his head down as he reported his failure.

"That's fine. If Kakashi had noticed you watching him, he would have become suspicious. You did well."

"Zabuza-sama, where you aware Naruto-sama had a kekkei genkai?"

"What happened?!" Haku looked up with wide eyes to see Zabuza's eyes fill with worry and confusion. "Bloodline traits only appear in life or death situations. Was he harmed?"

"No." The little word seemed to calm the missing nin down considerably. "He was sleeping in some tree root when Kakashi came upon him. When the jonin went to cut the roots, they attacked him until he dropped the kunai he was holding."

Sighing, Zabuza sat back in his seat. "The roots thought Kakashi was going to hurt him. He probably got the ability from the Kyuubi, foxes are known for poisonous plants." He sighed again. "You may go now Haku. Prepare for our attack. It will go on as planned."

"Will we be using full force?"

"No, nothing lethal. We can't risk angering him."

"Yes sir."

--

It was the third day since Naruto had been brought back from the forest beaten and unconscious and Sakura wanted answers. "What was he doing out in the forest at night? Why has he not woken yet, and why did you give him a room by himself?"

Kakashi sighed and answered her. "He was training himself very hard, and is exhausted both physically and mentally. Naruto currently has a fever and I don't know if it's contagious, that is why he has a room to himself. Are you done questioning me now?"

"No, should we send for help? If his temperature remains high for too long, his tissue will start to die."

"If his fever doesn't go down in a few hours, I'll request a mednin from Konoha. Don't fret." 'Yet.' Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "We will all protect Tazuna today and prepare to leave soon. I want to check on Naruto before we go."

Kakashi got up from the breakfast table and walked up stairs to the guest room. After he had brought Naruto back, he along with Tsunami changed the room into an infirmary. Laying on a pallet in the middle of the room was the comatose boy. Kakashi wasn't worried, after his mugging, the boy had been out of it for two weeks. He conveniently forgot to mention that fact to the others when he told them about it.

Sitting down next to him, Kakashi replaced the cloths that covered his head and wrapped around his upper body with cool damp ones. As the boy was shirtless, the jonin could easily see the scars covering Naruto's shoulder area. Kakashi could tell that they went along his back as well. The scares were thin, long, and overlapping. 'He has been whipped.'

"Kakashi? Why…wait. Where am I?" Kakashi jumped a little and pushed the boy down when he tried to get up. "Where is my sword and daggers?!"

'He asks for his weapons as soon as he wakes?' Pushing him back down, again, he answered. "In my room, I didn't think you'd want Sasuke or Sakura anywhere near them." Naruto removed the rags and sat up, ignoring Kakashi's protests in the process.

"How did I get here?"

"You've been out of it for three days now with a high fever, which you still have. Lay back down. Even if you never listen to me again, follow this order!" He waited as the teenager slowly lowered himself back down. "No then, three days ago I found you passed out under a tree and brought you here. Before I go into details, I need to ask you something, but this conversation can't leave this room. Do you understand?"

'What is he talking about? Did something happen?'

'Remember the training I gave you while you were asleep? The plant control.'

'That power came from you.'

'Not that Kakashi knows. In Konoha, the first Hokage had a bloodline with the same ability.'

'Was it as powerful?'

'No, but the plants were easier to control.'

"Naruto, when I found you, you were wrapped in a tree's roots. When I went to cut them, they attacked me. They wouldn't stop until I had let the kunai drop. Naruto, do you have any idea why they did that? Be truthful now."

"No."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"I already gave you my answer."

"Fine. You can't tell or show anyone this power. In fact, if you promise to not tell, I won't show the Hokage, agreed?"

"Fine."

"Good. Any questions?"

"Yes, two. Where is my shirt and why am I not wearing it?"

Kakashi chuckled. "I had to throw it out because it was falling apart. I don't even want to know how you managed to tear and burn it so badly. Anyway, the rest of the team are headed to the bridge. Stay here and heal, you're no use to anyone half-dead."

"Fine." Naruto waited until he was sure Kakashi and the rest of the team was gone before he allowed himself to drift off. Inside his Liar's Place, he sat on a cushion and faced the new wall. On this wall hung the first three of the masks. There was so much empty room around the masks that Naruto wondered how many different ones there were all together. A vine represented the control of plants and was currently wrapped around the boarder of the wall.

Mentally establishing a link with his father, Naruto imagined a door opening in his Liar's Place. The Kyuubi walked into the room in his humanoid form. The fox lord picked up Naruto, sat on his cushion, placed his son in his lap. He waited for the boy to get more comfortable before he spoke.

"Three powerful masks, plants, and poisons, you have grown far more powerful then the time I found you wandering your own mind. You have made me proud, my little kit." The Kyuubi could practically feel the warmth of the boy's happiness was emitting.

"You have not held me like this since I was a child."

"You are a baby compared to me. Your body will heal faster this way, all you need to do is rest."

"Yes Father."

"Go to sleep Naruto."

"Goodnight."

--

"MOMMA!!" The cry broke through any peace that Naruto had found in his Liar's Place. Slowly rising, so not to stress his aching muscles, he listened for anymore voices. Hearing none, he exited the room and made his way down the hall, looking for Kakashi's room. Entering the first one he came upon, he was happy to see his sword and daggers leaning against the opposite wall. He quickly entered the room and inspected the weapons for tampering or damage. He was glad to find none.

"Inari!" Another yell caused Naruto to exit the room and look for the source of the noise. Standing on the last step of the staircase, Naruto could hear everything that happened but remain unseen.

"You got a nice mom here kid, she gave up herself for a little coward like you. I know my own mother wouldn't've done that for me." Naruto didn't care about the kid or the woman, it was the man's use of a double contraction that made him want to kill him.

'Now all I need is a distraction.' He pulled up on the hilt and allowed the poison to coat the blade.

"Leave my momma alone!"

'There goes my distraction, guess the brat is good for something.' He then launched himself at the samurai that had targeted the child. As Inari got closer, the samurai raised his sword above his head, hoping to cut the boy's head open. Too fast for the samurai to counter, Naruto landed inside his guard and used an upward-diagonal slash to deeply open his chest cavity. Spinning rapidly, to not waste his momentum, Naruto slashed at the neck of the other samurai. The fool's reflexes were good enough that he avoided decapitation but still ended up with a badly lacerated throat.

'You missed.'

'Both targets are down and will die soon.'

'Your fever is still effecting you. In any other situation, that man would be missing his head.'

"Thank you! Thank you Naruto. You saved my boy and me." Looking behind him, Naruto saw the woman and child huddled in a far corner.

"I had forgotten you were even there. How long have I been out for?"

"A little more than two hours. Are they dead?"

"If they are not, they will be soon. Do not go near them until Kakashi gets back; tell him to burn the bodies. I am headed to the bridge."

When he arrived at his destination, he observed Sasuke's fight with Haku. After watching as Sasuke uselessly sent fireballs after Haku, Naruto became bored. Reaching into his holster, he pulled out a senbon needle with a grey ribbon attached. After checking it over, he aimed and threw it into the cage of mirrors. Without waiting to see the outcome of the fight, Naruto leaped off to where he heard Zabuza and Kakashi fighting.

Seeing a senbon headed his way, Haku reached out of a mirror and grabbed the projectile. 'It is Naruto-sama's!' He took the ribbon off and examined it. 'Grey means eliminate but keep alive. Very well, I will follow your orders.' Using the last of his reserves, Haku sped forward and pierced his enemy's neck with a needle. The boy toppled over without a sound and Haku soon followed.

Kakashi was worried, not for himself, but for his team. Sasuke was fighting a superior foe, not even his Sharingan could save him. Sakura was doing a half-assed job of protecting Tazuna, and finally, Naruto was currently out of action. 'Naruto is the only one who can really handle this situation, he can kill without worries.' He was forced he abandon his thoughts when Zabuza came after him from the left. Kakashi quickly backpedaled, but couldn't get away. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain to came, it never did. Opening his eyes when his bottom hit the ground, Kakashi saw a heavily scared individual holding Zabuza back with a sword.

'Has his hair lightened?' Shaking himself of his useless thoughts, Kakashi slowly rose. "Thank you Naruto. Not that I'm complaining, but what are you doing here? I can tell you're still suffering from the fever."

Straining with effort of answering and holding back Zabuza, he quietly said, "Two samurai attacked the bridge builder's house. I killed them but ran here when I thought you would need me. Besides, I can not let you die before I fix your grammar." He pushed Zabuza away but kept his back to Kakashi.

"Thanks, I guess."

"Go check on Sasuke, I have business to finish here."

"Fine," was all he said before he limped off, holding his side.

"Do not worry, I created a blood clone to imitate Haku and made it look as if I killed him." By now Zabuza had dropped his sword and collapsed to the ground.

"May I ask where he is?"

"Yes. He is in the forest, leaning against a tree."

"Thank you."

"A blood clone will also be made for you. Now, get up and leave."

"I am forever in you debt."

"I know." Zabuza struggled to stand and even needed to use his sword as a crutch, but he nevertheless bowed to Naruto before hobbling off. "Leave your sword, you can grab it after we bury the blood clones. Haku is in a clearing surrounded by thorns, you two should be safe there for a while."

"Will we meet soon?"

"Meet me in the forest outside of Konoha in two months. Stay away from the walls, I will find you. Understood?"

"Yes. Is there anything else?"

"Tell Haku to change his clothes, I am tired of questioning his gender even though I know he is male."

"I'll make sure of it." Zabuza waited until Naruto nodded to turn back and hobble towards his adopted son. Naruto sighed, he was exhausted, before creating and henging a clone of Zabuza. He then faked his previous wounds he had suffered from Kakashi, before stabbing the clone through the heart.

Kakashi walked through the mist to the site of Sasuke's fight. His only visible eye widened at the sight of the hunter-nin. The body was held to one of the work poles by Naruto's daggers, one in each lung. His blood soaked through his clothes and dripped down into the water.

'Bloody.' He looked over to the other side of the bridge where he could see Sakura leaning over Sasuke with Tazuna behind her. Reaching his destination, he said, "If I were an enemy ninja, I could have killed you both in over a hundred different ways by now."

"Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke's….he's…"

"Fine. The hunter-nin did the same thing to Sasuke as he did to Zabuza, he will be fine in a few days."

"He's going to be okay?"

"Yes. Now let's get back to Naruto." She looked up at this.

"Naruto? Where is he?"

"Naruto is the one who killed the hunter-nin and he should be done with Zabuza by now."

"Naruto…he was the one….who killed him?" All three looked down to see Sasuke trying to sit up. "Why aren't you helping him?"

"Why do you suddenly care? Anyway, Naruto and Zabuza have met before, they are connected. Who an I to kill Zabuza for him?"

"I understand."

"Well I don't!" Sakura's screech made even Tazuna flinch.

"Sakura, shut up." Sasuke's cutting words shocked her into silence. Kakashi kneeled down and carefully pulled the senbon from his student's neck, the turned to Sakura. "

"I want you to help Sasuke walk to Tazuna's house. Tazuna, you will be coming with me."

"Sure."

They walked to the unfinished section of the bridge where they found Zabuza's corpse and Naruto's unconscious body. "Can you carry him to your house? He is still sick."

"It's the least I could do for the kid. What will you be doing in the meantime?"

"Moving the bodies until we can properly bury them."

"Okay but remember that you're hurt as well, don't be too long."

"I'll be fine. Go now." The old man carefully picked up the comatose boy and walked into the mist.

--

Four people stood in front of two graves, Kakashi had thought it best to say farewell to the two before they left the country of wave. Sakura was the first to break the comfortable silence, like always.

"Master Kakashi, I can't help but wonder, were those two right about ninja? Are we just tools?"

Naruto was the one to answer her. "A shinobi should not be concerned with their reason for his or her existence. It is honorable and important merely to exist to be used by our homeland for whatever needs they have."

"That's not true! Sensei, tell him it's not like that!" She looked to the teacher for back up.

"Sakura, that's as true for us in Konoha as it is everywhere else."

"Do you feel that way?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, no. And that's why all we ninja live our lives with that ideal bubbling underneath the surface of our minds."

"And you Naruto?"

Naruto stood and looked at Sasuke, before turning and walking down the path. He was still slowly walking away when he answered, "Can people kill their emotions and live as objects? In the end, neither Zabuza nor Haku could accomplish that goal."

"You still didn't answer for yourself." The whole team was walking by now and wanted to know the cold shinobi's thoughts on the subject.

"Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die."


	5. Chapter 5

The Hokage was puzzled and worried, a bad combination for a leader of shinobi. He had an open file in front of him that was practically screaming at him to unravel the mystery of the sickness. The populations of several small villages dotted around the content were getting sick. People from the ages of four to forty were suffering from symptoms usually associated with a common cold or influenza. They were not serious enough to kill, but lasted for weeks at a time. A few of the smaller villages had even been abandoned because they couldn't survive without travelers.

'How is it spreading?' The sickness broke out at random places with no connection between them and showed no signs of stopping. He needed more information. "Secretary, call Gai's team and Naruto. Tell then to be here as soon as possible." It only took three minutes for the five to report to their leader and another ten to explain the situation. Their mission was simple; find any valuable information on the sickness while staying clear of it themselves. "Naruto, I want you to get to know the others well enough to work efficiently with them. Team Gai, I expect this mission to go smoothly. Are there any questions?"

"I have one Hokage-sama." Sarutobi looked over to Neji who had his hand up. "Why is Uzumaki joining us on this mission?"

"With all due respect, I am the closest you will get to a poisons expert in this village. I could tell you what poison was used, if any." Neji seemed taken back, but nodded anyways.

"My apologies."

"It is nothing." The others seemed surprised.

"Yosh! I have never seen Neji-kun so youthful!" Gai yelled.

"I had an idea that you two would get along, you're both so polite. Now get going, this is a B class mission but I think you all can handle it. Pack light and move fast."

"Hai!" and they were gone.

--

They camped in the forest that night and set watches for everyone; Neji, Naruto, Lee, and then Tenten. When asked, Gai told them that they should get used to not getting enough sleep before he went into his own tent.

'He is just another lazy jonin.'

'They do not seem lazy when they are attacking you.'

'And what do they seem like when they are attacking you?'

'Busy, insignificant, little ants.' Naruto watched as Neji ignored the calls of goodnight from his teammates and instead chose to keep looking out into the night.

'What do we know about the Hyuuga?'

'They live a "tree" clan structure with a Main branch and a Side branch. From our observations, it is clear that the Main branch holds all of the power even though it is smaller.'

'The branch members hold the social contract, why do they not revolt?'

'Ask him, I do not have such insight.'

"Why are you staring at me?" Neji suddenly asked with his back still turned to the camp.

"How would you know, Hyuuga-san?" The other boy seemed surprised at the formality in his voice and turned to look at him. This action allowed Naruto to see the bulging veins around the other's eyes. "I see, the Byakugan."

"Why do you call me that?"

"Hyuuga-san?" Neji nodded. "I am a very polite person. Seeing as we have not been properly introduced, etiquette rules state that I use your last name and the honorific befitting your standing. San because I am unfamiliar with you and I doubt you would want me to use kun."

"You already know my name from my teammates."

"Yes, but it is rude to assume familiarity just because I know your name."

"I see. Well, I am Neji of the Hyuuga clan. It is refreshing to meet a genin with such manners. He held out his hand, which Naruto shook as he introduced himself.

"Naruto of no clan. It is a pleasure to meet someone who does not destroy the language every time they talk."

"You are the only one I have met, outside of the clan, who thinks that way. What of your last name though?"

"Uzumaki is the name they gave me at the orphanage. The Hokage told me my father named me Naruto, but dodged all of my questions about him."

'I am your father now.'

'Now and forever.'

"That is unfortunate. My own father passed away several years ago."

"You have had it worse than me then, you have memories of him. If you do not mind sharing…" he left the question open.

"The clan," he said the two words with as much venom and hatred as he could muster, "killed him. It is long story, but I would not mind tell it to you some other time. You may want to get some rest because you have next watch."

"I need very little sleep and can make it up after my shift. If you wish to tell me, I will listen." Naruto didn't know what made him want to hear the story, but he still persisted.

Neji sighed. "Fine, but this story may go into your shift as well."

"If it does, it does." Naruto settled himself closer so Neji wouldn't need to talk too loud.

"One day when I was four, a grand celebration was held throughout Konoha. A lavish ceremony was held in the honor of the shinobi ruler of the land of clouds. Konoha's history is filled with war and strife with that nation, but he had come to sign a pact of alliance. Every shinobi in the village was in attendance except the Hyuuga. The clan was celebrating the clan's heir's birthday. It was Lady Hinata's third birthday." Here Neji stopped to collect his thoughts and take a drink of water.

"That night, someone tried to kidnap Lady Hinata. Lord Hiashi, the clan head, rushed to the scene and killed the perpetrator. The bandit turned out to be the cloud shinobi who had just signed a treaty with Konoha. They were after the secret of the Byakugan from the very beginning and soon the land of clouds claimed that the village had broken the contract and started to make unreasonable demands."

Naruto had noticed that Neji said the village and not our village. "Even though their ninja got himself caught and killed in their failed plot. Things must have gotten heated after that."

Neji nodded. "So much so that war almost started up again. Eger to avoid another pointless war, Konoha made a backroom bargain with cloud. Cloud demanded the corpse Lord Hiashi and Konoha accepted. War was safely avoided thanks to my father, Hizashi Hyuuga and the Lord's younger twin, be sacrificed to serve as a body double for Hiashi."

"So even though they were twins, the older one was automatically out into the Main branch while the other went to the Side branch?"

"Yes, only mere seconds stood between my father and a different destiny."

"Thank you for sharing with me, most do not answer my questions."

"That, unfortunately, is an S class village secret that I cannot share at this time." Neji stared wide-eyed at him. "I am truly sorry I cannot share with you."

"I understand. Most people do not throw their secrets around. In fact, my lips seem loose tonight for some reason."

"Perhaps you just needed someone to listen without judging. If you do not mind, I have one more question."

"I do not."

"Why does the side branch follow the main branch's orders? They hold the social contract after all."

"Social contract?"

"There is a belief that people allow themselves to be governed by entering what is called a social contract. Basically, it means that people let other people control their actions and if they truly did not want to be controlled, they would revolt."

"That is not the case with the Hyuuga clan. Allow me to show you." He reached behind his head and removed his head band. On his forehead was a manji used in some texts to signify a caged being.

"A seal?"

"Yes, one that allows the Main branch members to inflict pain on Side branch members. They can even cause death. They serve another purpose as well; they keep the secret of the Byakugan by sealing it away after death."

"I understand now."

"You are a very good listener."

"Only if it is worth the trouble to listen."

"What about everyone else?"

"They are just noise. Would you like to hear my opinion of them?"

"It would make me feel better; I feel I am dominating this conversation." Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes before starting.

"_The noise,_

_It never stops_

_Their constant chatter_

_Their voices becoming little stabs of pain in my head._

_The whispers_

_That never end _

_Their soft voices_

_That never betray their evil intentions."_ His voice rose a little as he spoke the next lines.

"_The yells, screams even_

_That go unheard_

_Proof of their hearts' terror_

_At what they cannot control._

_The voices, _

_Collecting in their minds _

_Making them paranoid,_

_Turning them on their friends, no now their enemies."_ His voice was louder now, but still low enough that the others wouldn't wake up.

"_The sound,_

_Lord the screeching! _

_Making me angry, making others comfortable._

_The insane sounds, _

_Locked in the mind."_ He suddenly stopped and breathed in again. The final two lines he whispered so low that Neji had to lean in to barely make them out.

"_Making me jealous of the man_

_Who had the courage to end it all, by ending them."_(AN: I own this)

Neji found himself hypnotized by the boy's words. 'That was…'

"You better get some sleep Neji-kun, your shift has been over for half an hour now." Naruto broke Neji out of his thoughts.

"Goodnight Naruto-kun."

"Sleep well and…thank you for listening, you are very good at it."

"Only because you are worth listening to." That night, Neji slept better than he had in years.

--

"So, do you think it is a poison?" Neji asked. He was standing close to Naruto who was examining a body of a sixty year old who died from the sickness. They had reached the nearest village where no one still had the disease. At first the others of the others in team were surprised at Neji's closeness to Naruto. During the past two days, Neji and Naruto seemed to have become close friends, even though neither of them were known to have friends. They talked while the others slept and Naruto had even caught Neji went his foot slipped off the branch he was running on. Neji was cold still cold to everyone but the other cold boy.

"None that I recognize. It looks like some kind of illness." Tenten seemed a little put off at this.

"Well duh, that's what the Hokage said." Neji came to his defense.

"Naruto would not been sent along if the Hokage had not suspected something amiss."

"Yes! Some are even calling it a curse!" Lee decided to enter into the conversation. Naruto mostly ignored the green eyesore but was interested in what he said.

"What kind of curse?"

"The Kyuubi's curse! Some people in town were talking about it. They say the spirit of the fox came back and has been making people sick."

'That is false. Not even the Demonic Tears spread like this. It is too random.'

"Only one person anywhere near here carries a curse. This is not caused by the fox." To the team, he was talking about himself, but Naruto knew the truth. The last night they spent in the woods, Naruto had told his secret to Neji. Naruto didn't understand why he felt the need to explain his existence to the boy, but he had felt better afterwards.

'Father, was it smart?'

'This is your life, your decision. He seemed to take it well.'

'How well will he take it when I leave?'

'Maybe he could come.'

* * *

The Hokage was troubled. He had just listened to another villager who accused Naruto of making all of the people sick. Sarutobi had to admit that it was suspicious that the sickness had started after Naruto returned from the mission in wave, but he knew Naruto. The boy liked to kill up close, even though it pained him to even think about Naruto killing, he knew the boy wouldn't use a widespread poison like this one. Even before he was a ninja, when asked why he didn't run away from the assassin instead of killing them, he had looked up at the Hokage and said, "They were going to die anyway, I just like to see their fear and life slowly leave their eyes." The look Naruto had given him caused the Hokage to shudder every time he thought back to that day. That was also why Naruto had gone with Team Gai; he knew the villagers would attack Naruto to stop the sickness. And Naruto would kill every single one of them.

* * *

'What do you mean?'

'Maybe you could convince him to defect with you. His loyalty to Konoha is shaky at best. The Akatsuki could find some use for his eyes as well….and you like him.'

Naruto sputtered for a second before remarking, 'Personal reasons aside, he would be useful. Now how do I get him to agree?'

'You already have his trust, your conversation assured that. He trusts you even more because you told him about me.' They had talked every night while the others slept and Neji had kept all of the conversation to himself.

'How would I be sure of his loyalty? His seal gives the elders the power to kill him on a whim.'

'I bet Itachi could remove it.'

'Are you sure?'

'He removed Orochimaru's curse seal, which is why the snake left. As for the boy's loyalty, have him swear a blood oath.'

'You seem happy.'

'I am happy when you are happy. That boy makes you happy and you know it.'

'I will talk with him tonight.' Naruto's conversation came to an end when he noticed Lee, Tenten and Gai staring at him. "What?" Tenten stepped forward.

"I asked you what you thought about the whole thing."

"Well, let us think about what we know. This whole village got sick except infants. What is the connection between them all?" Naruto sat down on the ground and motioned for Neji to sit down as well.

"Why were the infants spared?" Neji prompted. The others came and sat in front of the two. Gai came over as well and sat down so they all formed a circle. "What are all the others coming into contact with that the infants are not?" Naruto had an idea of a few things, but something about the whole mission didn't add up with him.

"This is a poor village, yet they seem to have gotten more money lately, and how are they paying for our stay at the inn?"

"The innkeeper said they had a big party stay here a week ago. The whole town benefitted. Weren't you listening?"

"We could all do without the sarcasm Tenten."Neji came to his defense every time and it was starting to get on Tenten's nerves. Just as she was about to yell at Neji, Naruto stopped her.

"How do you describe money Tenten?" The only female of the group looked confused at this question.

"Money is what a person uses to buy things."

"Money is alive." His statement confused the already confused girl even more. She looked at him like she was crazy and glanced at the rest of them to see if they understood him. Lee looked just as confused as her, but Neji had a dawning look on his face and Gai looked like he understood what the blonde was talking about.

"Money is just paper."

"Is it? Take a note out of your pack."

"What does this have to do with the investigation?"

"The sooner you do it, the sooner Naruto will make his point." Neji cut in.

"Fine." She pulled out a money note and waited for more instructions.

"Tear it up."

"Are you crazy? We might need it."

"You see?" He received negative answers form Lee and Tenten, but Gai and Neji nodded their heads. "It's not just paper, it's alive. This village has gotten more money lately and got sick just after they received it. As for the infants, who would give a baby money?"

"So the money is making them sick? I don't understand how that is possible."

"The sickness is placed on the money which is given to some poor village. I do not understand the whole point of doing it though."

"We are not here to figure out the point, just what is happening." Gai said, startling Tenten because he sounded strangely serious.

"Sensei, you have been awfully quiet during this mission."

"It is a test!"

Naruto glared at Tenten. 'You just had to question his silence.' In response to the unsaid reprimand, Tenten looked sheepish and apologized. Gai took no notice of any of this and kept talking in his overly loud voice.

"The chunin exams are starting soon and I wanted to be sure that your flames of youth were enough to see you through the exam!" He turned to Naruto and spoke in a slightly quieter voice. "I will try to convince your sensei to allow your team to compete because of all of your help."

"Thank you," oh how he loathed speaking those words, "but we should be getting back to the problem at hand."

"Why do they keep taking the money if it is making them sick?"

"Who would refuse free money? Even if it makes them sick, their lives could be changed by that one bill in your hand."

"I could tear it."

"By all means, do it then." She ripped the bill in two.

"Congratulations Tenten, you just wasted money we could have used." Neji said.

"But-but isn't that the whole point of this conversation?" Neji had a smile on his face as Naruto answered.

"Yes that is the point of it, and Neji just showed you how the people who refused the money would feel."

"Oh." She fiddled with the ripped note before putting it into her pack.

"Why are you doing that Tenten? Why not throw it away?"

"I was going to tape them back together; it seems stupid to lose money over a silly experiment."

Naruto spoke for Neji this time. "They say self-preservation is the first law of life. Would you not say that the money just preserved itself?"

"So it's spreading by money?!" Lee asked/yelled.

"Were you not listening? It is being placed on the money before it is given to people. The sickness also seems to dissipate after a week, so the money should be perfectly safe after that time."

"Now for the big question, who is behind all of this?" Gai asked.

"The innkeeper said a short man with spiky grey hair and glasses paid her the last time."

"Gato." Gai spoke the name with venom. "Good job team, the mission was a complete success. We found the source and how it was spreading. In the morning we will leave for Konoha."

--

That night Neji and Naruto were in their room talking in low enough voices that the neighbors wouldn't hear them. Their conversation was over the faults of the village as a whole.

"…It has become a village of normal fools. The most outstanding and odd ninja are frowned upon. Anything that broke the mold of ninja has been looked down at since Itachi and Orochimaru."

"I agree. There is a sense of conformity that is suffocating." They sat in silence for a short time digesting their current conversation. "Neji, if I were to defect, would you hunt me down if you were ordered to?" Naruto lifted his face and watched Neji as he thought about his answer. The boy's next words would decide whether or not he survived the night. Naruto would hate to have to kill Neji and blow his cover, but he would if it was needed.

"No." Naruto released a breath he didn't even know he was holding. "If you were to leave….may I come as well?" Neji was on edge. He had made a friend, even if he wished he was more, who knew his loss as much and more than him. He didn't think he could survive the village anymore. If he had to suffer through the glares of the clan anymore he would snap."

"The question is not 'if', it is 'when'. But you just made my day easier; I was going to ask you if you would want to come. Yes, I will take you with me when I leave the pitiful village of the leaves." He was surprised to find that he felt good at the thought of Neji coming with him.

"Thank you." Neji poured as much relief as he could in those two words.

"If you were to leave the village, the elders would activate your seal and kill you, you do understand that, correct?"

"I know, but I would rather die in the middle of the forest away from the village than by my own hand."

"I may have a colleague who may be able to remove the seal. I need you to swear loyalty to me, if you do, I can persuade him to fix your problem."

Neji didn't even need to think before he answered. "Of course. I would do anything to be rid of it." He cut his palm and held it outward as he said "I, Neji of the Hyuuga clan, pledge my services to Naruto, son of the Kyuubi. I will serve and remain loyal for as long as he sees fit." To seal the deal, Naruto clasped hands with Neji.

"I accept your pledge and will find a way to remove the caged bird seal." Neji let go.

"Thank you Naruto-sama."

"I have only one absolute rule; you will never call me Naruto-sama again."

"Okay Naruto-kun. May I know the name of who you will ask to remove it?"

"Itachi Uchiha." Naruto's already high thoughts of Neji rose even more when Naruto saw that Neji didn't even flinch at the name. Nor did he look surprised. "The only way he would do it though was if he knew without a doubt you were loyal. It surprises me that you would swear loyalty to me just to get out of the shadow of the Hyuuga clan."

"The clan elders are only superior because of a seal, not because they are stronger. You are stronger than I, so I do not mind swearing to you." Neji yawned.

"Let us go to bed. None can know or your loyalty to me." Soon they were both in their own beds, fast asleep. Both felt safer than they had in years.

* * *

AN: Don't anyone complain that Neji agreed really fast or something along those lines. I know from experience that two people that are very similar to each other bond faster than other people. Gai is quiet through this because, as he said, it was a test. Lee was quiet because Naruto is scary. Deal with it. Fans, you again must thank Dark Orb for his very welcome advise on the story. Thank you for reading this story and I hope you enjoy it. Ax


	6. Chapter 6

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IMPRTANT!!_I've recently fixed up the past chap (1,2,3) because they were sloppy. Added some in sight to Naruto's training. I think. I did add some interesting conversations though, so you might want to reread them. 4,5 I don't think I touched though.

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****___

"Hey, you said you owed me, right?" Zabuza turned back to the child on the other side of the clearing.

"Yea, I owe you kid. What of it?" The six-year-old's eyes grew distant at his words, like he was talking to someone Zabuza couldn't see.

"Can you train me?" The look was gone out of his eyes and a questioning look come over them.

"Why do you need training?" Even Zabuza had been older when he learned to kill. But, Zabuza had seen the bruises that covered the boy, so he wasn't too surprised.

"They all hate me." Naruto's head was down, so Zabuza couldn't see the tears in his eyes. "I have yet to meet someone who does not treat Naruto badly." Zabuza was sure he was hearing things now; the boy's whole manner of speaking and voice had changed completely. It was the same pitch and sound, but held a sense of authority, no power, that almost made Zabuza cringe.

"You speak in the third person view now? Or, are you someone completely different?" Zabuza had met a few people that had cracked under the pressure of being a shinobi, and begun to see themselves as someone else, hence why they spoke in the third person point of view. At his question, Naruto looked up and held Zabuza's eyes with his own. Zabuza had been titled 'Demon' when he killed at the academy in Mist, but looking into those blood red eyes, he knew that he was now facing a true demon.

"I am a different person entirely…" Naruto woke from his memories to the sound of his alarm clock. He got up and showered, wondering what this day would bring.

* * *

"It's good to see you three here." Kakashi said while leaning against the doorway.

"What would you have done if we all hadn't shown?" Sakura was oddly quiet when she asked but neither of her teammates were complaining.

"Stopped whoever showed up; the exam can only be taken by whole teams. Now, prepare yourselves, from this point on, it's kill or be killed." At Naruto's snort he added, "Just don't kill so many you get kicked out Naruto."

"I promise nothing." Kakashi was watching his 'student' warily at this. He found it hard to see him properly him in the shadows because he was still wearing the dark clothing, with out the hood though. The metal plate of his headband was attached to the strap of the one new thing in his ensemble, a across the chest bag.

'Of course.' "Well, I'll let you pass through now." He moved to the side so they could enter the room behind him.

Once inside, Naruto split from the rest and stood away from his team so they wouldn't drag him into any of their conversations. He quietly watched the rookie eight reacquaint themselves and winced at how loud they were being. After one particularly loud outburst from Ino, being on a team with three people who rarely talk had quieted Sakura down a little(not enough), a silver haired teenager walked over and joined the group.

"You know, you should act a little more like your friend there. All the rest of you are being way too loud."

"And who would you be?" Sakura knew she had asked it a little more rudely than normal, but she hated that he had said they needed to act more like Naruto. The thought alone made her shudder. Naruto decided to intervene at this point.

"His name is Kabuto." He turned to Sakura, "Be quiet unless you have something important to say." Sakura flinched at his words and the whole room instantly took notice. Many of them became excited at the thought of a strong opponent, while the rest grew wary of him. Kabuto just looked surprised.

"I'm honored, the recluse Naruto knows my name."

"I also know about your obsession with snakes and puppets. Now, say your piece and leave."

Kabuto was outwardly, and inwardly, shocked at what he said and hurried to ask if they needed information on anyone. It was Sasuke that spoke up.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara of the Sand." Naruto turned to him.

"Why would you ask for those?" 'What has he heard?'

"One, because you're my teammate, and I don't know anything abut you, and Gaara because I ran into him the other day."

"Well, either way, I don't have a lot on Naruto other than his mission stats; 15 D rank, 2 B rank, and 1 A rank. A side note here says that he just got back from a joint mission with Team 9 from last year."

"I didn't know you went on a mission, Naruto."

"I do not tell you what I do with my life, Sakura." Naruto hadn't looked at her when said that. In fact, after he had looked at Sasuke, he had turned and seemed to be looking for something in the crowd. Catching sight of his white-eyed friend, Naruto moved over to him and leaned against the wall. Without taking his eyes off of Kabuto, he began to whisper to Neji in a voice the others in the room couldn't hear. "I was able to convince my friend to help you with your bird problem. He will meet us in the forest during the second exam. Get away from your team during the first ten minutes and I will find you."

"I understand. How did you know the second part of the exam would be in a forest?"

"The village rarely changes its exam; first a psychological test, then a survival test, and last, tournament-style fighting. I do not know specifics, but that is the basic layout."

"Oh. Where will we meet?"

"Do not worry, I will find you." Naruto saw that a few genin were preparing to attack Kabuto and decided to intervene. "I must go, I will see you in the forest." Naruto lightly kicked off of the wall and walked over to where Kabuto was filling the rookies in on the exam. Just as he was finished talking about how small the Sound village was, the genin from said village made their move. One went high and threw specialized kunai at Kabuto while another came in from the left. The kunai were easily dodged, but he drew back with his focus on the right; completely missing the incoming attack from the other side. Kabuto would have been blindsided by the gauntlet on the genin's arm if it weren't for Naruto grabbing a kunai from the ground and stabbing him in his elbow. This caused him to stumble in his charge and pull back.

"I hope you do not mind me keeping these kunai." The three sound genin looked up to see Naruto holding their own kunai in his fingers. "The more streamlined shape and the hole cut in the middle make it altogether lighter and faster than the average kunai. These would fit my style perfectly." He looked over to the wounded genin. "Do you want to remove that, or shall I do it? Either way, I am getting that knife." Without saying a word, the teen pulled the knife out of his arm and tossed it to Naruto.

"All right Naruto, you've had your fun, now leave them alone. Everyone else, SHUT THE HELL UP!" Everyone turned to see a scared man in a black trench coat standing in front of 20 or so jonin. All of whom had smiles on their faces. "All right you fools, stop laughing at the Sound's expense and try to look serious." The jonin behind him sobered up immediately. "I'm Ibiki and I will be overseeing the first portion of the exam. Get your asses up here, take a number, and find your seat." None of the chunin hopefuls moved. "GET GOING!" Seven minutes later and everyone was in their seats. "Now let me explain the rules…" (I'm really feeing lazy. You should know by know that anything skipped _**usually**_ went the same way) "…Now get started, you have an hour allotted for this portion." Naruto wasn't impressed with Ibiki's theatrics and scare tactics, but started without a complaint.

'Question number one; _When one does not know what it is, it is something. When one knows what it is, it is nothing. What is it?_'

'It is a riddle.'

'I know it is a riddle, but why would they ask us riddles instead of real questions?'

'To test your aptitude at being a ninja? After all, ninja deal with riddles and such everyday.'

'That makes sense, I guess.'

'I love riddles, tell them to me.'

'What was the first one?'

'I told you already; a riddle. Riddles are about shady answers you would not expect. When you know the answer, it becomes nothing.'

'I understand. _Mountains will crumble, temples will fall, and no man can withstand its endless call. What is it?_'

'A good lover!' (he's a perv? I didn't even know!)

'No, and I do not want to even thing about your lovers. Time.'

'Next?'

'_You are trapped in a room with one window, a door, and a table. The table is bolted to the floor; the window and door are locked and unbreakable. How do you escape? _This one does not sound like a riddle.'

'Riddles are a play on words, this one is just harder.'

'Do you know it?'

'No, skip it and tell me the next one.'

'_I cannot be other than I am until the man that made me dies. Power and glory will fall to me finally, only when he last closes his eyes. Who am I?_'

'An heir.' They continued in this manner until 19 out of the 20 riddles were answered. They still couldn't answer the third riddle (can you?) but thought they did well anyway.

"Okay, everyone stop." Naruto looked up from his paper to see that Ibiki walking up to the front. By looking around, Naruto could see that over half of the applicants were gone. "There is one final question; What was the whole point of this test? Any team that thinks they know needs to exit with a proctor. Oh and by the way, if you give the wrong answer, not only will you fail, but you will be banned from ever being chunin." Naruto stood and nodded towards Neji who sat three seats to his right.

"My team will answer." A proctor nodded to him and stood up. He waited until all of Team Seven had walked over to him to exit the room and lead them down the hall. He stopped at an empty room and left after telling them not to leave. Soon more teams entered and in total, 26 teams ended up in the room before all of the proctors and Ibiki walked in. He stood much the same way as he did at the start of the exams; very intimidating.

"Well, all of you here, pass!" His personality did a complete turn around from before that no one questioned his words as he went on to explain the purpose of the last question; weeding out the cowardly. In the end, the whole written exam was one large riddle, but Ibiki told them that if they didn't know the answer that it didn't matter. "You'll understand someday. Follow me, I'll lead you to the next part of the exam."

* * *

"Ibiki, your getting soft, 26 teams? Are you out of your mind?" The woman who called out held the same amount of anger and feeling of danger around her as Ibiki, but her voice held more of a sadistic and sarcastic tone to it. Ibiki just sighed and walked up to her.

"We have a very talented group this time around."

"Talented my ass. Who could be so talented that it makes up for letting so many pass?" The woman leaned to one side as she spoke, which caused the brown coat she was wearing to open and show off a fishnet body suit and a short skirt. This caused Ibiki to sigh again and a few of the male genin to quickly cover their noses.

"Naruto's in this group, you better have the waivers handy."

"Right here." She held up a stack of papers. "Everyone needs to sign one of these."

"What for?" A random kid in the group yelled out.

"I would hate for Konoha to get in trouble because Naruto felt that he needed to thin your ranks a little. As soon as you sign, I'll explain the whole point of this exam…" (again lazy, but if it's the same as regular, why would you want to read it again…only Naruto didn't provoke Anko) "…okay, BEGIN!" Anko raised her hand and lowered it, signaling to the chunin at the gates that they were allowed to unlock them.

* * *

" Hey Naruto, why do the proctors now you so well?" Team Seven had stopped for a break and Sakura found the silence suppressing, so she had asked Naruto a question that had been bugging her.

"And why did they say those things about you thinning the group?" Sasuke added.

"Ibiki and Anko know me from the time they spent in ANBU. They were the two that would come and clean up the bodies of the ones sent to kill me. The comment about thinning the numbers comes for my tendency of killing anyone who attacks me." Sasuke and Sakura shivered at the truth in the statement.

"What do you think about getting a scroll?" Sasuke had recovered sooner and posed the question to Naruto. He didn't mind letting Naruto take command; he had more experience in combat and survival than the other two combined and Sasuke knew it.

"We will make camp here. Sasuke, you and Sakura will stay here and place traps to keep this area safe. I am going to scout out a few teams. I'll keep our scroll with me." He moved to leave but Sakura stopped him.

"How will you get passed the traps?"

"I will make due." The two didn't post any more annoying questions, so Naruto left. Once he was far enough away that they wouldn't sense or see him as they were placing traps, Naruto settled himself on a branch. He placed his hand on the bark of the tree he was on before closing his eyes and opening his mind. He allowed himself to be taken in by the forest; in essence, he BECAME the forest. Every plant, from seedlings to the ageless redwoods were part of him, and he had complete control over them all. Even though he couldn't control the animals in the forest, he could sense them. Every different being in the forest had chakra and every chakra source was a different color. He 'saw' Anko as a shard of chakra; Sakura as pink. There were so many different colors running around the forest, that Naruto found it hard to locate the two colors he was looking for, maroon and silver. The latter he found 8km to the northeast, but he found it hard to locate the former. He integrated farther into the forest and suddenly saw the shard he needed; right next to him.

"Hello Itachi-san. How are you today?" He broke his connection and the chakra shards faded away.

"Fine. So where's your boyfriend?" Ignoring the jab, Naruto stood and stretched his muscles that were slightly stiff from staying in one place for a while.

"Neji is 8km to the northeast. It should not take long to get there."

"Has he gotten rid of his team?"

"I did not sense them anywhere nearby."

"Let's go." They jumped off into the direction Naruto had indicated, and within minutes, they were there. Neji was leaning against a tree in a clearing and watched them enter. When he saw the Uchiha, he bowed to him.

"I wish to thank you for removing my seal."

"You wouldn't be thanking me soon, it is very painful. Naruto, set up the barrier and then leave. I don't know what will happen to your seal when I unseal his."

"Hai." Naruto pulled out five notes with seals written in blood and quickly put them on trees on the edge of the clearing. This formed a circle with Itachi and Neji at the center. Naruto knew the barrier was necessary to keep the chakra form the unsealing from becoming detectable. He also knew that the only reason Itachi was sending him away was so he couldn't hear it if Neji screamed. He walked out of the circle and smeared blood on his hand. After a few hand seals, he said "Kekkai Hojin" and jumped back into the foliage.

After he was gone, Itachi looked over to the Hyuuga. "Take off your headband." He did so without question. The weasel cut a thin line in his thumb and swiped the flowing blood on the exposed seal. He made a few hand seals, muttered something Neji couldn't discern, tapped his fingers to the seal. In an instant, Neji was swallowed into a world of pain. It felt like something was trying to break him, but at the same time, that something was being broken as well. It lasted for only two minutes, but it was enough for the boy to wish for his own death and cry out in relief when it was over. Neji collapsed to the ground and couldn't find the will to even move. Everything ached like he had been running for days. Neji collected his thoughts while on the ground, but forgot that the Uchiha was still in the clearing. When Itachi grabbed his arm to help him up, he tried to jump back, but the motion caused his muscles to hurt even more. The nuke nin took it all in stride and helped him lean against a tree.

"Naruto cares very much for you. He convinced Zabuza to fight Kisame to make him shut up. The peace it offered was the thing that made me agree."

"I know he cares, and for that I am grateful. Thank you very much Uchiha-san."

"Just take care of him, Naruto is precious to a lot of people who won't hesitate to kill you." Neji pushed the implied threat to the back of his mind and nodded.

"I know. How will he know that he can come back?" Itachi answered his question as he walked over to a space between two trees.

"If the encampment is broken, a trap is supposed to activate. In this case, Naruto will be informed that he can come back." The Uchiha lazily waved his hand outside the barrier and Naruto was soon there. He took down the seals and placed them back into his equipment pouch. When he was done, he looked over at his friend.

"Your seal is gone, though you will always have a scar in its place."

"A small price to pay."

Naruto turned to Itachi and gave him a half bow. "Thank you." he said before the nuke nin disappeared into the trees. Neji was about to leave as well until Naruto's voice stopped him. "Wait."

Before he could do anything, Neji was slammed into the tree behind him with enough force to cause him to gasp loudly at the impact. The next thing he knew, he felt Naruto's lips smash into his own and Naruto's tongue enter his mouth. The two briefly fought for dominance before Neji became submissive and allowed Naruto to explore his mouth. When he was forced to break the kiss for air he saw Naruto lean forward and bury his face into his hair.

"Do not die." Naruto whispered into his ear before licked it and backed off. Neji didn't do anything but stare as Naruto turned and jumped into the trees. He just stayed there and caught his breath from the unexpected, but pleasant, kiss they shared.

* * *

'What possessed me to do that?' Not that Naruto was complaining, just curious.

'I did.'

'Why did you do that?'

'You have been wanting to kiss that boy since you the day you met him. I just gave you a little push.'

'Please refrain from "pushing" anymore.'

'I do not think I will need to. You will be pushing yourself into that boy before long.' Kyuubi won that argument because as soon as Naruto heard that he stumbled and fell from the branch he was running on. As he fell, the plants near him automatically caught him and set him down on the ground. Naruto just sat there, sputtering out words that failed to make a coherent sentence. 'I smell snakes.' This snapped him out of his thoughts at this.

'Orochimaru, what does he want?' He sniffed around and the scent led him towards Team Seven's camp. The traps were all broken and blood was splattered around the clearing. Naruto followed the smell of snakes until he came upon Sakura. She looked to only be unconscious, but her face was beaten pretty bad and her arm was bent at a odd angle behind her back. Naruto left her there in favor of finding the source of the smell of snakes. He found his target over his Uchiha teammate, who was gripping his neck in pain.

"Hello Orochimaru, I have not seen you since you left. I have seen your little lackeys though, Kabuto did not have a lot of information on me. Do you not trust him enough to tell him about your Akatsuki days?" Orochimaru stiffened and spun around to face Naruto.

"You know, it's rude to sneak up on people."

"You know, it is rude to use someone else's face when I am taking time out of my exam to have a pleasant conversation." Orochimaru smirked in front of him before reaching up and pulling his stolen face off.

"My, my Naruto-kun, the Uchiha is on your team? With your I.Q. you wouldn't be at the bottom of your class."

"The council has tried to kill me numerous times; the Hokage was worried that they would kill my team just to kill me."

"So he placed you with Uchiha so they wouldn't attack your team?"

"Yes."

"That is interesting." A thud sounded in the clearing; Sasuke had passed out.

"He lasted pretty long through the pain."

"Yes. Will you stop me?" Orochimaru slid a little closer towards the blonde, he wanted to be able to reach him if it came to a fight.

"From what, grabbing Sasuke?" Orochimaru nodded. "Now, yes, but only because I need both of them to pass."

"What about later, when I destroy the Leaf?"

"Probably not, it depends on whether Father and Brother order me to or not."

"Then I will be sure not to cross him." Orochimaru went back to where he was previously.

"Kyuubi or Tobi?"

"Kyuubi." He said it like a fact and with no hesitation.

"Tobi is just as dangerous." At this, mirth entered his eyes and Orochimaru began to laugh. He laughed with his head thrown back and his arms around his sides like they hurt. Naruto slowly picked up a rock and threw it at the exposed neck. Orochimaru's head snapped forward and his hand caught the projectile.

"I know he is just as dangerous." He cackled. "But I've already crossed Tobi."

"You know, we will hunt you down." The mirth left Orochi's eyes and he adopted a frown.

"Not today, you aren't enough to take me."

"Maybe, but Father is more than enough." Naruto's smirk was mirrored by Orochimaru.

"And every nin in the village would feel the energy, but then they would be made aware of me. So, truce until the end of the exam?"

"Fine. Will you leave now? I still have to carry those two and pass the exam."

"Yes, I'll leave. Here, take this." He reached into his robe and pulled out an Earth scroll.

"You are not known for your generosity." Naruto still walked forward and grabbed the scroll.

" Think of it as a bribe; I don't need Pein breathing down my neck."

"A bribe I would believe. Goodbye now."

"Goodbye Naru-kun." His body slowly sank into the ground and in a minute he was gone.

'I have told him not to call me that.'

'Because that is what you want your Ji-chan to call you.' If anyone had walked by at that moment, they would have thought the world was coming to an end. Naruto Uzumaki, the coldest and most frightening ninja in Konohagakure, was blushing. It was a beautiful blush, one that would put Hinata Hyuuga to shame. 'You might want to get going.' It took a few minutes for Naruto to get his thoughts strait enough to speak.

'We have a while yet; this is only two hours into the first day.'

'Yes, but you want to make a record, right?'

'I suppose.' Naruto took one of the kunai he took from the sound nin and held it to his wrist. It drew blood immediately, but Naruto held it there so the skin wouldn't heal. He waited until enough blood dripped from the blade for the jutsu he had in mind. Naruto made a few hand signs before touching the blood n the ground with his first two fingers of his right hand. "Demonic Tears: Poison Replication." The blood bubbled before rising from the ground and forming two clones of Naruto. When one of these clones were hit a few times, they would turn into the Demonic Tears. If the Tears entered a person's bloodstream, they would die, no exceptions. One clone walked over to the comatosed Uchiha while the other walked back to collect Sakura. When they were both back, the original lead the whole party towards the tower.

When Naruto arrived at the tower, he was greeted by Iruka who informed him that only one team had beaten him there. The Suna team had beaten him there by ten minutes. After informing Iruka of the curse seal and Sakura's injury, Naruto was led to a room while the others were cared for. As soon as he entered, he locked the door and headed to the shower. He let his thoughts wander as the cool spray washed away the dirt that had accumulated during his running. His mind soon found themselves focused on a certain white eyed brunette. Every time he tried to turn his thoughts to something, anything, else, Neji's face and the feel of him mouth came back to him. He soon found himself developing a "problem" downstairs. Little did he know, it was the fox that kept sending the images into his son's head, chuckling the whole time. Lucky for Naruto, his pants and moans were covered by the sound of the cascading water.

* * *

AN: Well, that's an interesting way to end it. Thank Dark Orb, he's the one who got me to finally finish this chap. Hope ya like!


	7. Chapter 7

sorry I've taken forever. Beware: fluff at the begining, but the ends is kinda bloody...

* * *

Pain was all the tiny four year old registered in his mind as the shadow moved towards him. The stranger moved closer and raised his katana as Naruto scrambled on his hands and knees to get away. The blade sang as it cut the air and sliced easily though Naruto's skin. He could feel it vibrate when it cut deep enough to hit bone. He cried out in a broken voice as new pain blasted through him and he fell on his stomach. The wind tugged at his ripped skin and the agony of the situation obliterated all thought and reason. He felt more than saw the attacker come up behind him and prepare to finish the job of killing the boy. Naruto waited for the final pain, but oddly, he didn't feel it. Looking up, his blue eyes met red and black eyes. He watched as the eyes began to spin and soon felt himself lose consciousness. The last thing he registered was a gentle hand brushing back his hair and a soothing voice whispering words he couldn't understand…

_**

* * *

**_

The dream, or memory, was shattered into several unidentifiable pieces by the sharp sound of knuckles striking wood. Naruto kept his eyes closed as tried to draw the phantasm back to the front of his mind. He could just feel sleep overcoming him when the knock sounded again. Growling as he carefully untangled himself from his warm covers, he slowly made his way to the door of the small room he was given in the tower. The room was plain with little to look at, nothing covered the white walls and a sole hanging bulb and a small window were the only sources of light. The bulb was turned off and the window covered by a bolt of heavy material; it was only because a thin band of light managed to slip from under the door from the hallway that Naruto could tell where he was walking.

A scowl set firmly on his face, Naruto jerked open the door and hissed as the florescent burned his eyes and caused a headache to form. A scared Tenten stood in front of him, hand still raised to knock. Naruto slid an eye over her appearance, wondering why she was there. Her clothes were ruffled and a little worn but clean, a sharp contrast to the large purpling bruise that covered her right cheek and a few scratches on her left. Naruto's terse "What?" startled her enough that she jumped several inches, jerking her hand back as she landed. She guiltily stepped from foot to foot before a glare from Naruto made her settle down. "Sorry to bother you Naruto, but have you seen Neji? I can't seem to find him."

Naruto rubbed his hand across his eyes in an effort to banish the ache that seemed to split his head in two. "Why would you think that I would know where he was?"

"Well…on our mission, you two seemed to become friends, and I thought he might have told you where he was going." Tenten shuffled her feet in embarrassment; now that she said it out loud, she sounded stupid. Why would Neji tell anyone where he was going?

Naruto sighed as he stooped trying to rid himself oh his headache and leaned against the doorframe to stay standing; he was still half asleep. "I cannot tell you where you teammate is; I do not know. May I go back to sleep now?"

Tenten looked startled but managed to mumble out, "Oh, okay. Sorry to wake you Naruto." He shut the door in her face with as much force as his lethargic limbs could muster. He walked over to the bed and stood over it, wondering which spot would be better to lie on. Seeing no difference in the areas, he plopped himself down on the left side and threw his arms over the bundle of covers next to him.

"Your teammate is annoying."

"I know." The muffled reply came from within the cocoon of cloth that Naruto was holding. After a little shifting of the covers, a brunet head appeared. "I am surprised that you lied to her though. It would have been easier to just ignore her."

"She would have knocked forever, and I did not lie to her. I really do not know where Lee is."

Neji let out a short burst of laughter that ended in a drawn out yawn. "I am still tired from the forest; I am going back to sleep." Neji declared before burrowing down into the covers.

"You are not going to hog all of the covers." Naruto ripped the sheet off of Neji and threw it over himself, ignoring Neji's protesting groan at the loss of heat.

"Look who is hogging now." Neji moved to grab them back but stopped when arms wrapped over his jacket and pulled him into Naruto's chest. They had slept this way for most of the night. Last night, Naruto had cleaned his bruised and scratched body up before lying in bed with him; Neji passing out immediately, Naruto following soon after.

"I am hogging you Ji-chan, and I do not think I will ever let you go."

_**

* * *

**_

When the fifth day had finally rolled around, Naruto and Neji left the small room together, but separated to meet with their teams. Naruto found Sasuke and Sakura standing idly by the large door that led to the main arena of the tower. Without so much as a comment on their injuries, Sasuke had bandages around his neck and Sakura's arm was in a sling, he walked into the room and made his way to the middle. Every ninja that had passed the second exam stood in ranks in front of the Hokage and their teachers. While everyone waited for the Hokage to speak, the genin talked amongst themselves on various topics that Naruto didn't bother to listen to.

Instead, he was in his Liar's Place, conversing with his father and reading over the Secret Scroll for the third time. The different seals and jutsu listed made his eyes widen and a smirk form on his lips. The multiple uses and forms of some of the jutsu surprised him, but he soon threw the emotion away and continued to study. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't realize the proctor had explained the rules for the matches, only focusing back on reality when a high pitched voice rang out.

"What?! Why are you giving up, forehead girl? Are ya chicken?" Naruto winced at the sound of the girl's, he had never bothered to learn her name, loud voice. The sound was so annoying that Naruto found himself wishing his ears wouldn't grow back if he ripped them off.

Sakura turned to answer her withy a small smile in her face. "Sorry," she motioned at her arm in the sling, "my hand and wrist are broken. There is no way for me to fight."

"Okay," Anko said from where she was standing near the aged Hokage, "Haruno Sakura, you may leave now."

Sakura turned to the proctor and asked, "Would it be okay if I stayed behind and watched m teammates?" Anko consulted with the Hokage a minute before nodding in Sakura's direction. "Thank you."

"Well, if no one else is going to-cough-forfeit, then we'll start the first match." A low rumble sounded as a section of the wall slowly slid up to reveal a large screen. Once everything was settled, names started to flash randomly across it. After a short wait, the names stopped on Uzumaki Naruto and Dosu Kinuta. The two genin of Naruto's team glanced questioningly around, wondering who would be Naruto's first victim of the day; they had grown used to their teammate's homicidal tendencies. "Will everyone but -cough- the fighters please go stand on the -cough- arena balcony?"

As everyone moved away, Kakashi came over to his students and spoke quietly with them. "Naruto, in these fights, there are no rules; do whatever you want to him." He gave the boy his patented eye-smile that Naruto ignored.

"Kakashi," the man opened his eye and stared back at the boy, "the Council will have no say about the fights?"

Kakashi was surprised to hear a little worry in his normally calm charge. "If the Council had any power over these fights, would you give up?"

"No. I would just be more careful of how I acted. But now I do not have to; you just answered my question." Naruto shifted a little and looked around a bit before turning back to them. "You had better get going, Anko is glaring at you." Indeed, the bloodthirsty jonin was glairing at the three people who had yet to move and were postponing the fight's start. With a chuckle, Kakashi steered his other two genin up the stairs; not letting go of their shoulders until they stopped between the Sand ninja and the rest of the Rookie Twelve.

'This one looks angry.'

Naruto saw that his father was correct. Naruto was taking in the tell-tale signs of aggravation; flushed skin, hard breathing, profuse sweating, when an image of Neji popped into his brain, showing all of those things. The brunet flushed, panting, and sweating under him while he…

Naruto was brought back from the lovely image by the nin suddenly yelling out, "I'm gonna pay you back for messing up my arm." Naruto dimly remembered stabbing his opponent before the exams, but then again, Naruto has stabbed a lot of people. The nin facing him had his elbow heavily bandaged, and it still looked like it hurt. "Lucky for me, you didn't hit anything too important." The remark was said with such a bitter tone that Naruto found himself smirking, which worried his team.

"Kinuta is a nice name; it fits your pissy attitude." Every leaf nin gasped at his words, but he kept going. "You think I care about every insect I stab? I have sent more people to hell then anyone could ever dream of doing at my age." His voice was even like always, but the spectators, those who had spent any time at all with Naruto, knew that he was about to rain blood all over the stadium. Seeing their faces, the nearby suna nin turned and faced them with questioning looks.

"What's the big deal? He didn't even say anything that bad." The kabuki enthusiast was completely turned towards the Konoha people to see their reactions. To his surprise, everyone seemed to keep their eyes on the floor, ignoring his inquiries. All except a brunet who was glaring at him, but it was Kakashi that answered the boy's question.

"If Naruto ever says anything like that, it means the battle will be very bloody, or very long. Either way, his opponent will feel pain before he dies."

"I feel sorry for him. He has no clue that he is about to die." Sasuke added.

"He's a dead man standing." Sakura finished off.

"You have a lot of trust in his abilities," the suna jonin decided to put in. He found it amazing that they had such conviction in their words. It was if the boy they were discussing was a mellowed out Gaara. A more dangerous enemy; at least with Gaara, you knew you were dead and you could expect a quick death. He was even more amazed when the boy's jonin looked at him with pity in his eye.

"You don't understand how good a killer Naruto is. Anyone that faces him _will_ fall, no exceptions. His highest body count is 253 people in one night."

"Well, Gaara has killed people who haven't attacked him," the blonde that stood next to the jonin added while motioning at the red head behind her. Oddly, the boy didn't even look up when she spoke of him, but kept his eyes on the arena floor. "He's killed that many people before." Temari huffed out, not liking the look of utter fear on some of the faces in the arena. It was bone chilling.

Kakashi just shook his head and turned back to the match. "You'll understand when they start fighting."

"Well if he's such a killer, why hasn't he made a move yet?" It was true; all the two opponents had done so far was throw insults at each other.

"He's baiting hi- there they go." Dosu ran towards Naruto after the boy had said a nasty insult about his mother. As he came near Naruto blocked with his sword's sheath, stopping the teen's arm from hitting his face. Dosu smirked as he saw blood flow down from Naruto's pointed ears and drip on the floor. Covering a wince, Naruto hooked his foot around Dosu's leg and pulled. As the nin lost his balance and fell, Naruto used all of his weight the smash him into the ground. Naruto landed on his right arm and flipped himself away as another sonic attack was sent his way.

With a smooth motion, Naruto pulled the blade from its sheath and said "Futon: Kizu." A shockwave of wind headed towards Dosu who blocked with his melody arm. Naruto smirked at the same time as Dosu did, but Naruto continued to smirk as his opponent's gauntlet cracked down the middle and shattered into small pieces.

"It broke?" Dosu jerked his head up as he heard a thump; Naruto had shed off the bag he carried with him and laid his sword on it. In his hand he held a clear bottle of small white pills. Naruto took the top off the bottle without looking down and tipped three of the pills into his hand before capping it. Dosu ran forward, hoping to find some advantage before the pills affected his opponent, and aimed a kunai at Naruto. As the nin grew closer, Naruto took a deep breath and tossed the pills into his mouth. When Dosu was only a couple meters away, Naruto bit into the pills.

'Dokugiri: Kokayat.' Naruto expelled his breath and blew out the poison mist. Instead of the usual violet color of most poison attacks, this smoke was a think cream color that looked sickly. The smoke rapidly overtook Dosu, who jumped back and covered his nose and mouth to keep from inhaling it. The nin felt like something had changed in his body, but for the life of him, couldn't place the change. The smoke dissipated slowly, leaving Dosu facing a smirking Naruto.

"Was that supposed to end it?" he taunted.

"It was only part of a whole; Akumen: Bachiatari." Dosu didn't feel any different, and as far as he could see, nothing had changed. He looked up to see if the move had failed and screamed. His opponent had become a monster; face twisted in a grimace, clawed hands, and three white-furred tails swinging behind him.

"W-what are you?!" he yelled as he lifted his arm up in an unconscious gesture of keeping the demon away. He froze as he caught sight of the skin on his arm. Something was moving under his skin. He watched with morbid curiosity and fear as the bump moved down his arm towards his hand. Once the bump reached his wrist, he felt a prick of pain as the thing ate its way from under his skin. It was an insect. The large black beetle crawled completely out of his bloodied wrist and took flight. As he followed the bug with his eyes, he arm began to itch. Looking down, he saw, to his horror, more insects moving under his skin; then the pain started. Dosu could feel of the bugs starting to eat him. He could feel their mouths ripping and killing him from the inside out.

They are under my skin! Get them out!" Dosu used the kunai he still held to cut into his skin, hoping to carve the bugs out. Every time he cut, they just burrowed deeper into his muscles where he couldn't reach them. "I can't get them out, they are killing me!" Dosu heard the proctor call the match in Naruto's favor but the voice seemed so far away. He stabbed himself again, going for a particularly large bug as a loud distorted voice caught his attention. A shadow covered him and looking, Dosu screamed again. Devils in white were standing over him, yelling at him in strange gargled voices. They grabbed his arm and pushed down on the cuts in the skin, trapping the bugs from escaping.

"Stop! They're still under my skin!" Instead of listening to him and letting go, the devils pushed harder. He started to struggle and yell when maggots started to crawl out of their eyes and mouths. He broke away with a jerk and ran towards the exit, only to see two more devils in his way. "Stay away!" With the last of his energy, Dosu plunged the kunai in his hand into his throat. With a vicious jerk, Dou ended his own life…

* * *

The onlookers shuttered as Dosu's body fell. It had been terrible to watch the nin carve his own flesh for no reason, even Anko felt some sympathy for the boy. It was silent throughout the tower, the only sounds being that of Naruto walking up the stairs and towards the grouped people. He stopped a little away from them and glared.

"The powder was a hallucinogen, the jutsu put him through his worst fear, and the combination of the two caused him to kill himself." Once Naruto had started to talk, the medics got a hold of themselves and started to pick up Dosu's corpse. "I created all of them and I won't show you how to do them. I refuse to speak anymore on the matter." He walked past the staring nin and stopped near Team 9. Without a word to his own team, he settled himself on the wall near Neji.

"I don't have anything against it, but why are you over here and not with your team?" Tenten asked. Naruto just ignored her, while Neji smirked internally, and watched to board, eager for the next match. The board displayed "Aburai Zaku vs. Kankuro." Both nin smirked as they made their way to the already blood smeared floor.

'I'll show them surprising.' Kankuro was angered by the fact that everyone was impressed by Naruto's fight, even Gaara. He wanted to prove to all of them here that he could be just as deadly as Naruto.

Zaku began speaking almost as soon as the match began. "I'll end this fast, Zankuha!" The burst of air hit Kankuro in the chest and threw him into the wall. The bundle on his back rolled away as the nin fell to the floor in a crumpled mess. Zaku walked forward to take the head of his opponent as a trophy but as he got close, the body jumped up from the ground and moved to grab him. As it flew through the air, Zaku raised both arms and yelled, "Zankukyokuha!" The air waves tore at the body and its clothes were ripped away to reveal an odd human-looking puppet. The three eyed machine continued on its way towards Zaku, completely ignoring the pressurized air.

"What the hell?" As Zaku moved to dodge, he found himself unable to move. He could only stare as a blade slid out of the puppets arm and headed his way. The blade entered the smooth flesh of his neck with ease, it was a weapon well sharpened by a skillful hand. It pierced the trachea, esophagus, and spinal column in one fluid motion before stopping because of friction. The beautifully red color of blood blossomed across his shocked face, adding much needed color to his rapidly paling face. The nin stared blankly, not really seeing anything, as he toppled facedown to the floor. This action drove the dagger even deeper into his neck, so deep in fact that the blade was lost up to the hilt in the bloody mass of torn flesh and ruined muscle. All together, it painted such a unique and gruesome scene that Naruto found himself smiling. Neji noticed this and slid his eyes over questioningly.

"Such a scene, how…lovely." he whispered, answering Neji's unspoken question. His voice held a certain huskiness that forced a small blush to show Neji's normally stoic face. A fact that Naruto noticed and played with. He turned and faced Neji completely and held a smirk that promised pain or pleasure, depending on who you were. "Are you getting ideas in your head? Please, do share."

"I was just thinking on how much you seem to like blood. Nothing more and nothing less." Neji ignored Naruto's voice and focused on forcing his blush away. He had succeeded when Naruto spoke again.

"I am forced to admit that my love for blood has diminished somewhat. Though, I am sure it would return to normal if I sa-" Naruto was cut off by the loud voice of Kankuro.

"Your tricks have nothing on mine." Naruto jerked his head up to see Kankuro standing near his sister, but he was looking over at them. Aggravated by being interrupted, Naruto pulled his lips away from he's teeth in a snarl and let loose a loud growl. Everyone jumped and stared wide-eyed at Naruto while Kankuro himself cringed in fear. For just a second, Kankuro saw his own death; he lived through every bloody second before he was able to look away. Shakily he looked away and saw his brother glairing at the other boy. Naruto saw this as well but only smirked before returning to his hushed conversation with a blushing Neji. Everyone sent a sympathetic look to Kakauro before returning to the arena.

* * *

oh, yah, I forgot. I'm trying to use jutsu in japanese. Tell me my hits and misses, I'm new.

Futon: Kizu- "Wind Release: Slash

Dokugiri: Kokoayat- shortened version of Dokugiri: Kokoro Ayatsuru meaning "Poison Mist: Mind Control"

Akumen: Bachiatari-" Demonic Mask: Accursed" (damned, cursed, ect.)


End file.
